How royalties work

Protect. Collect. Distribute.

How a licence fee becomes a royalty, in three steps.

Step 1

Protect

Composers, lyricists and publishers join ACPOSL and register their works. We look after their performing rights under the Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003.

Step 2

Collect

Hotels, shops, broadcasters, event organisers and other music users pay ACPOSL a licence fee, set by the tariff in the Government Gazette.

Step 3

Distribute

We match music-use reports to our register of works and pay royalties to each rights holder, following ACPOSL's Distribution Rules.

How royalties are collected

ACPOSL collects licence fees from businesses, broadcasters, event organisers and other music users who publicly perform, broadcast or communicate musical works. The fees are set by ACPOSL's approved tariff and depend on how the music is used.

The royalties collected make sure that composers, lyricists, songwriters and music publishers are paid fairly when their works are used. All licence fees are recorded, monitored and distributed under ACPOSL's Distribution Rules and governance procedures.

How royalties are distributed

ACPOSL distributes royalties to composers, lyricists, songwriters and music publishers based on the use of their works. Royalties from licence fees are allocated under ACPOSL's Distribution Rules and approved governance procedures.

Broadcasters, event organisers, venues and other licensed users tell ACPOSL what music they used. ACPOSL matches that information against its register of works to identify the rights holders and work out what each is owed.

Where a work has several rights holders, royalties are shared according to the registered ownership shares of its composers, lyricists and publishers. Members receive royalty statements that show what they earned.

Distributions are made at regular intervals so that creators and publishers are paid for the public use of their works.