not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

public company that facilitates reuse of

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

ed material by third parties, collecting fees and delivering the payments to the creators. Its business names include Viscopy, Rightsportal and Smarteditions. It is officially appointed by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

to administer the management and payment of royalties to creators, including acting for educational institutions.

History

On 2 July 2012, Copyright Agency and Viscopy (formerly Visual Arts Copyright Collecting Agency or VISCOPY) entered into an arrangement whereby Copyright Agency would manage Viscopy’s business. On 30 November 2017, Viscopy merged fully with Copyright Agency. This name is still retained as a trading name.

What it does

The company has been officially appointed by the

to manage the Australian education copying scheme, under the Statutory Education Licence. It also manages the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

, State and Territory government copying schemes and the Resale Royalty Scheme for artists. Educational institutions (or a body administering an educational institution) may claim a Statutory Educational licence under Part VB of the '' Copyright Act 1968'' by: # publishing a notice in the '' Commonwealth of Australia Gazette'' (

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

, TAFE institutes, full-time

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and secondary schools, pre-schools and

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

s are exempt from this requirement); and # Completing the Statutory Educational license notice and returning to CAL; and # Entering into a CAL Educational license by completing the agreement and returning to CAL. An annual fee is payable by participating educational institutions based on estimated usage of copyright material, usually determined by student numbers.

John Fries Award

The John Fries Award was established in 2010, named in honour former Viscopy director and honorary treasurer, John Fries. Awarded annually to an emerging visual artists, it is a non-acquisitive art prize worth , sponsored by the CAL Cultural Fund,

UNSW Galleries The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public university, public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight (Australian universities), ...

and Art Van Go.

Copyright Agency Partnerships

In April 2021, the Copyright Agency’s cultural fund announced the launch of a Copyright Agency Partnerships (CAP) three-year artistic commission series, in partnership with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Sydney, the

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art The Australian Centre For Contemporary Art (ACCA) is a contemporary art gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The gallery is located on Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, in the inner suburb of Southbank. Designed by Wood Marsh Architects ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, and the Institute of Modern Art in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. The commissions, worth , are designed to support mid-career and established visual artists with a commission as well as a

solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an exhibition of the work of only one artist. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photography. The creator of any artistic technique may be the subject of a solo show. Other ...

, and will run for three years (2021–2024). The granting of the award is judged by representatives of the three institutions and an independent peer. The inaugural winner of the award was TextaQueen, whose project ''Bollywouldn’t'' will be exhibited at A4 in 2022.

Commentary

Nicholas Gruen commented in 2008 that the cash-strapped educational sector was paying unnecessarily high royalties to CAL, and suggested that a public subsidy to content creators. He also criticised CAL for seeking royalties from for old surveyors' maps held in the New South Wales Government's land registry, for which surveyors have already been paid and which had been deposited on the public record and therefore free for use.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.copyright.com.au
Copying Rights for Educational Institutions
Australian copyright law Legal organisations based in Australia Mass media companies of Australia Year of establishment missing Copyright agencies