We at Kopiosto enable the easy use of copyrighted publications and audiovisual works in educational institutions, businesses and public administration. We also ensure that professionals in the creative industry receive the appropriate remuneration for the use of their works.
Our customers include educational institutions, businesses and public administration. Our licences allow them to copy and use copyrighted publications and works digitally and use TV contents in a diverse manner. The remunerations collected from the licences are distributed to the authors and publishers of the works.
We are a joint copyright organisation for 45 organisations from the fields of culture and communications. We serve more than 50,000 creative workers, such as writers, visual artists, publishers, translators, actors, directors and journalists. Our aim is to promote the creative economy in Finland.
We work according to our values of openness, unity and boldness to promote creative work.
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Responsible use of works and remunerations to authors
We enable the easy and responsible use of works by selling licences for the copying and use of copyrighted works. Our customers include educational institutions, the state, municipalities and companies, among others. For example, our copying licence allows teachers to copy and scan additional material from books, magazines and newspapers for their pupils and use works in distance learning as well.
We distribute the remunerations collected from sold licences to the authors, performers and publishers in the creative industry. Remunerations for radio and TV programmes are primarily paid as individual remunerations to the programme makers, such as scriptwriters and actors.
Remunerations for the use of books and other publications are paid to our member organisations, which distribute them to the authors and publishers in the form of various grants and awards, among other things. For example, the Finlandia Prize, Rudolf Koivu Prize and Science Journalist Award are funded with the copyright remunerations we collect.
Information about copyright and support for new culture
We work to secure the position of creative authors and defend copyrights. In our advocacy work, we communicate about copyrights to political decision-makers and offer our expertise by issuing statements, among other things. We study the trends concerning the copying and use of copyrighted material, such as texts, photos, images and audiovisual works. We develop the industry in cooperation with other operators and highlight the significance of the creative industry in our communications.
We train teachers on copyright and visit approximately a hundred educational institutions each year – on-site or remotely. With our free Kopiraittila service, copyright matters can be learned and taught at all school levels or even at home in a fun and gamified way.
Through the Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture AVEK, which is a part of us, we provide grants for the production of short films, documentaries and media art. Furthermore, we support the internationalisation of the audiovisual industry and the training of those working in the industry, as well as the development of cultural content and cultural entrepreneurship, among other things. For example, Teemu Nikki’s short film All Inclusive, which competed in Cannes in 2019, and Reetta Huhtanen’s Aatos ja Amine, which is competing for the Jussi Award for Best Documentary in 2020, have received support from AVEK.
We operate in accordance with the Act on Collective Management of Copyright, and our operations are supervised by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.