Practices of collective management of copyright on musical works and related rights on audio-video products in China

Collective management of copyright on musical works and audio-video products in China had a late start in relation to the global pace. There are currently five collective management organisations (CMOs) in China, with the Musical Copyright Society of China for musical works and the China Audio-Video Copyright Association for audio-video products being the most dominant. This paper identifies three problems in the institutional design of copyright collective management in China: vague standards for jurisdiction, weak regulation of the CMO monopoly, and the quasi-official status of CMOs. It also discusses three controversies in relation to these collective management practices: the controversial standard setting of licensing fees, the lack of transparency in the distribution of licensing fees, and difficulties that CMOs face when undergoing litigation processes. The paper argues that these controversies can be better managed by establishing regulations on abuse of monopoly power by CMOs, the proper use of their quasi-official status, and an improvement in judicial techniques and transparency in governance.