Copyright and the arts: growth in royalty payments

It is not always possible to have up-to-date or current data for statistical purposes. Some Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys are conducted on a regular basis: monthly, annually or every few years. Other major data collections such as the Census of Population and Housing are of a great scale and are only conducted every five years.

Other statistical analyses, such as the Australia Council’s The Arts Economy 1968–1998: Three Decades of Growth in Australia (Guldberg 2000) are major one-off studies that are so far-ranging, they can only be commissioned on a periodic basis. Although at first glance it may appear dated, this analysis gives an important historic perspective on the current state of the arts in Australia.

The Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) was formed in 1926 to protect and collect the royalties owed to songwriters, composers and music publishers. The Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) was established in 1979 as a music copyright collection society representing music publishers and music writers in the reproduction of their music.

Although APRA and AMCOS are separately constituted companies, in 1997 APRA began managing the affairs of AMCOS.

According to The Arts Economy, in 1997–98 APRA had about 24,700 members to whom it distributed $66.7 million in royalty payments.

According to the APRA website, in 2006–07, APRA membership had grown to over 48,500 members. In that year, APRA distributed royalties to its members totalling $122.9 million.

In 2006–07, there were 1,319 AMCOS members. Annual AMCOS royalty distributions to its members totalled $42.7 million.