GVL concludes its financial year 2015 with a total revenue of EUR 161.8m
The 7-digit revenue increases for each of the two categories broadcasting and public performance could not make up for the lower income collected for private copying. GVL's biggest income source, broadcasting remuneration, rose by 1.9% to EUR 81.8m compared to 2014 (EUR 80.3m). The neighbouring society's public performance revenues were also subject to an increase of EUR 1.7m, reaching a total of EUR 41.1m (which corresponds to a plus of 4.4%).
Regarding private copying remuneration, GVL collected a total of EUR 26.1m - compared to the previous year's EUR 35.1m, this was a decrease of 25.7%. This partial amount does not contain the remuneration for private copying on mobile phones and tablets. While general agreements could be concluded with Bitkom in December 2015, the respective back payments are expected to be paid to GVL in the following years. The timing in terms of when GVL will receive the relevant distributable amount, and when it can pay it out depends on the ZPÜ distribution regulations which have yet to be set up. "To finally conclude the general agreements after more than eight years of payment delays has not just been a relief for the members of GVL", state Guido Evers and Dr. Tilo Gerlach, Managing Directors of GVL. "We expect that the improvements for the ailing private copying process that have been integrated into the recently decreed VGG (Act on Collective Management Organisations, CMO Act) shall lead to a stabilisation of the remuneration business practice in that field.”
The remuneration from lending of commercially published sound recordings and videos by libraries have decreased from EUR 2.3m in the previous year to EUR 2.2m in financial year 2015; income for the rental of videos also declined (by EUR 0.1m to EUR 0.4m). This can be put down to a change in consumer behaviour. GVL can report collections of EUR 2.2m for cable re-transmission (previous year: EUR 2.3m).
The interest earned by the Collective Management Organisation has, due to an increase in the volume of financial investments, grown from EUR 2.6m to EUR 3.5m despite the continuing low interest rates. Higher interest income could not be yielded in the given market environment due to the stipulation that GVL has to follow a gilt-edged investment policy. For the first time, amounts received from sister societies (EUR 3.5m) are shown as revenue.
Just like in the previous years, not all of the income posted is available to GVL in order to be paid out to members by means of regular distributions - the outstanding amount to be temporarily blocked due to a lack of receipt of payments totals EUR 26.2m for 2015. The above mentioned sum includes EUR 25.6m for private copying and EUR 0.6m for public performance.
GVL's own administration costs amounted to EUR 11.5m which corresponds to 7.1% (previous year: 6.8%). The reason for the slight increase of the administration costs is the higher expenditure required to cover the rise in required human resources of the society. "We are very pleased that we could keep our administration cost rate at about 7 percent despite an increase in staff requirements", Gerlach and Evers add. "This illustrates once more how strongly GVL focusses on managing the necessary resources efficiently and responsibly on behalf of its 147,000 members." GVL's allocations for cultural, politico-cultural and social purposes amounted to EUR 3.4m, just like in the previous year.
A copy of GVL's detailed annual accounts 2015 shall be published in the electronic Federal Gazette, the annual report 2015 with additional contents shall be published prior to the end of September 2016 at www.gvl.de.
About GVL:
Those who render artistic performances or create the respective financial basis for the latter must receive money for the exploitation of their performances. GVL, Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten mbH, captures and manages such exploitations. GVL pays the fees it collects on a fiduciary basis e.g. from radio and TV stations and for the communication to the public (e.g. in restaurants or cafés) to its members in the form of a remuneration. More than 147,000 performing artists, producers of sound recordings and audiovisual recordings, music and music video clip producers as well as event organisers have placed their trust in GVL on a global level - and thus make GVL one of the biggest collective management organisations for neighbouring rights in Europe. The German Orchestra Association (registered association) [DOV] and the Federal Association of the Music Industry (registered association) [BVMI] are shareholder of GVL.