The ''Escritório Central de Arrecadação e Distribuição'' (also known as ECAD; can be translated as ''Central Bureau for Collection and Distribution'') is the national copyright collection agency in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is made up of six partner organisations: ABRAMUS, AMAR, ASSIM, SBACEM, SICAM, SOCINPRO and UBC. ECAD also produce a Radio Ranking of music based on radio airplay.

Controversies

In 2012, fifteen officials were indicted after an investigation by the Brazilian Senate found that some at ECAD had allegedly taken money intended for artists and had engaged in price fixing.Not just the pirates: Brazilian rights holders indicted for ripping off artists
Ars Technica

Ronaldo Lemos Ronaldo Lemos (Araguari, born March 25, 1976) is a Brazilian academic, lawyer and commentator on intellectual property, technology, and culture. Lemos is the director of the Institute for Technology & Society of Rio de Janeiro (ITSrio.org), and ...

, an academic from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, has said he believes ECAD used legal pressure on their critics and described them as a "litigation machine". Lemos claimed that leaked documents from ECAD showed that they planned to sue him.

Controversies

References