Authors and performing artists of TV programmes

The AV authors’ copyright agreement, or an agreement to transfer a copyright, enable AV author associations to collect exclusive rights from AV authors and performing artists that apply to certain usage areas where their works are used in large quantities. The aim is to strengthen the AV authors’ financial status and the control they have over their works or performances protected by related rights, including their recordings. Such usage areas include, for example:

• the educational use of TV and radio programmes
• the retransmission of TV programmes
• online recording services for TV programmes
• the public performance of audiovisual works
• non-commercial use of recordings

By entering an AV authors’ copyright agreement, you ensure that you receive appropriate compensation for the use of the works – even in possible future scenarios that include areas not currently within the scope of remuneration collection. The agreement transfers your exclusive right to the usage areas indicated in the agreement to the organisation of your choice, which then forwards the management of your rights to Kopiosto.

With the transferred rights, Kopiosto is able to represent the interests of AV authors and performing artists more efficiently, license the use of audiovisual works and collect and distribute remunerations in current and future usage areas as well. It is practically impossible for the authors, performing artists or AV author associations to issue extensive licences in usage areas, where a large number of users accesses a large number of audiovisual works.

AV author associations recommend that all their members sign an AV authors’ copyright agreement.

You can enter an AV authors’ copyright agreement, even if you are not a member of an AV author association. To transfer your rights to a specific organisation, make sure that this organisation represents your property in question.

You must specify in your AV authors’ copyright agreement your position in the agreement. For example, you can sign the agreement as a cameraperson or a director. You can also enter an agreement with more than one AV author association, if necessary. Please note that you can enter an agreement in a certain position only with a single AV author association, as the exclusive right cannot be granted to more than one party at a time.

You can enter into an AV authors’ copyright agreement through Kopiosto’s authorisation service. Users register in the service by using their online banking credentials.

If you are unable to sign the agreement at Kopiosto’s online service, you can also sign a paper form. The printable agreement document can be found at the bottom of the page, under Sopimusdokumentit (Agreement documents). Please note that all associations provide a signed agreement template of their own.

Keep one paper copy of the AV authors’ copyright agreement and mail the other to Kopiosto with a personal data form as an attachment. We take care of collecting copyright agreements and delivering them to the association defined in the agreement.

Mailing the agreement is free of charge, if the envelope address contains the following details:

Kopiosto ry
Tunnus 5000467
TEKIJÄNOIKEUSSOPIMUS
00003 Vastauslähetys

If you wish, you can terminate a certain category of rights or the entire AV authors’ copyright agreement. In this case, please contact us at valtuudet(at)kopiosto.fi for further instructions.

Please note that the rights concerning a specific production or production company cannot be revoked. Instead, they must be terminated on the basis of the category of rights in question.

The termination will take effect at the end of the calendar year during which you terminated the agreement.

The rights included in the AV authors’ copyright agreement mainly concern such mass use areas of audiovisual works that do not belong to the scope of production companies’ primary functions.

If you have entered an AV authors’ copyright agreement with an AV author association and provided the association with your exclusive rights, you cannot provide the rights included in the agreement to a third party, such as a production company. Exclusive rights can only be held by a single party at a time.

Whenever you enter a new agreement with a production or broadcasting company, please remember to mention that you have entered an AV authors’ copyright agreement with an AV author association.

It is also advisable to include the following in purchase orders and project agreements: “This agreement does not apply to the rights the artist has transferred to AV author association X in an AV authors’ copyright agreement or with an AV Grant of Rights.”

With an AV Grant of Rights, the rightsholders of copyrighted works, i.e. authors and performing artists, authorise Kopiosto to grant licences for copying and using their audiovisual works in certain situations on their behalf. The authorisation allows us to manage your rights and interests concerning the copying and use of radio and TV programmes on your behalf.

The authorisation is always given to our member organisations based on a certain role. The member organisations represent different sectors and positions of the creative industry.

The authorisation given to our member organisation remains valid until further notice. The authorisation is not terminated automatically if you decide to leave the association, for example, unless you specifically terminate or make changes to the authorisation. You can update the authorisation by adding new positions, if necessary.

The AV Grant of Rights has to be issued to one of our above-mentioned member organisations. You can submit the AV Grant of Rights via Kopiosto’s authorisation service. Users register in the service by using their online banking credentials.

If you are unable to sign the agreement at Kopiosto’s online service, you can also sign a paper form. The printable agreement document can be found at the bottom of the page, under Sopimusdokumentit (Agreement documents). Send the filled in AV Grant of Rights and your contact information form to Kopiosto by post or scan the documents and send them by email to valtuudet(at)kopiosto.fi. Contact details can be found at the bottom of this page.

If you wish, you can terminate just one of the features or categories of rights in your AV Grant of Rights or the entire authorisation. In this case, please contact us at valtuudet(at)kopiosto.fi for further instructions.

The termination will take effect at the end of the calendar year during which you terminated the agreement.