“I’ve noticed that my recordings are doing well abroad. Does PlayRight also collect rights internationally? And how does that work?”

When you join PlayRight, you give us a mandate to collect your rights. You choose whether that mandate is only applied in Belgium and/orin other selected territories, or worldwide. 
If you have a worldwide mandate, it means that we will collect your rights in all countries where PlayRight has a mutual agreement in place with a similar organisation — known as a sister society. These bilateral agreements outline the legal and practical arrangements between PlayRight and the partner society regarding the exchange of rights. Many of these processes are standardised internationally (more on that below). 

That’s why it’s in your best interest to check the ‘worldwide’ box on your affiliation form, which is something you can do at any point after joining. This authorises us to collect your rights abroad for any recording of yours that is broadcast, sold or streamed outside Belgium. 
However, there are two conditions in order for this mandate to take effect: 

1. PlayRight must have a bilateral agreement with a sister society in that country (see the full list on our website) 
2. Your recording must appear on the playlists used by that society when distributing royalties. 

How does this work in practice? 

Like PlayRight, our sister organisations work in accordance with their own distribution schedules. Each distribution involves a number of steps: first, the sister organisation creates and shares  their playlists with all organisations with whom they have an existing exchange agreement. These playlists contain all the repertoire that has been played in their country during a given year, and they are used as a basis for the sister society’s distributions. Then, these sister organisations use their repertoire databases to identify the recordings in the playlists to which their members have contributed. 

Once the results of the distribution have been calculated, when the value of a recording is known and the rights have been calculated for all artists involved, the sister organisation then pays out the rights to its own members and those of its sister organisations. Please note that each sister organisation has its own distribution rules, which it applies regardless of the nationality of the artists involved in a recording. Please also note that PlayRight can only provide details about the rights collected from abroad to the extent that the sister organisation has provided them to us. 

Since each sister organisation has a different working method, and given the heavy workload involved in exchanging information with more than 40 different sister organisations- as is the case with PlayRight- it quickly became necessary to make agreements on this at an international level. To this end, SCAPR (Societies Council Artists Performing Rights) was established. 

What does SCAPR do? 

SCAPR is the international umbrella organisation for the collective management companies for performing artists. They ensure that rights are exchanged correctly across borders, thanks to shared systems such as the International Performers Database (IPD) and The Virtual Recording Database (VRDB). Thanks to SCAPR, you receive royalties from abroad, and we can also track your performances worldwide. 

• In short: we can collect your rights when your work is used abroad,. Conversely, when a foreign artist’s work is broadcast in Belgium, we ensure that their society receives what’s due. 

The Virtual Recording Database (VRDB): an international and centralised service that enables CMOs to accurately document the repertoire they represent. They can also use this platform to share their local usage lists (or “playlists”) with other CMOs (collective management organisations). 

The International Performer Database (IPD): a unique and reliable information system that identifies individual performers of sound recordings and audiovisual works, as well as  the CMOs that represent them where applicable. Currently, more than 1.1 million performers are registered in IPD.

More information about how we collect and distribute international rights 

Why is this important? 

This international cooperation ensures that: 

• You are remunerated for the use of your work abroad; 
• Your rights are distributed correctly and transparently; 
• We can pay out faster thanks to uniform standards and accurate information. 

This means less manual work, faster processing, and lower costs – with direct benefits for you as an artist. 

Tip: check your repertoire and contracts! 
Log in to the PlayRight Portal and check whether your repertoire is correctly registered, and whether you have signed a worldwide contract. That way, you won't miss out on any rights.  Questions about international rights? Email us at members@playright.be or contact your designated account manager.