GVL, Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten mbH (company with limited liability), finally received the overdue remuneration for private copies made on PCs for the years 2011 to 2013.
After several years of negotiation, new general agreements were signed with the associations BCH and BITKOM in January 2014. Based on this event, the central collection and distribution organisation for private copying levies in Germany (ZPÜ), as a form of a collection one-stop-shop for nine German collective management organisations was now in a position to pass the belated remuneration on to the affiliated collective management organisations. GVL is entitled to a share of EUR 40.99m of the total amount; the receivables in the balance sheet, blocked for several years, can thus be liquidated entirely.
"We are very pleased that we finally received the outstanding fees for the PC sector and were therefore in a position to distribute them to our members", state the two GVL Managing Directors, Dr. Tilo Gerlach and Guido Evers. "We now hope that the next step will be that the changes to copyright announced in the coalition agreement are implemented as quickly as possible so that the performing artists and labels do not have to endure such long waiting periods for the remuneration they are entitled to by law. Furthermore, the agreements governing consumer electronics, tablets and smartphones should finally be signed."
PC income for 2011 and 2012 is planned to be paid out to producers of sound recordings in the course of a special distribution in the current month (September 2014). The payout for distribution year 2013 shall take place in the course of the end of year distribution in December 2014.
The payout of the allocated portion to artists shall take place in the scheduled distributions in December 2014 in order to avoid additional administration costs. PC income for 2011 and 2012 shall be paid out in the subsequent distributions for the relevant distribution years, PC income for 2013 not before the original distribution 2013.
GVL was founded in 1959 and, in its role as a collective management organisation, it now represents more than 140,000 members worldwide with regards to administering their neighbouring rights; among those represented are performing artists, producers of sound recordings, producers of video films and event organisers. The German Orchestra Association (registered association) [DOV] and the Federal Association of the Music Industry (registered association) [BVMI] are equal associates of GVL.