In Uganda, collecting societies are catered for under Part VII of the Copyright and neighbouring Act, 2006 and this mainly deals with their registration as well as conditions and cancellation of this registration, qualifications to perform the tasks bestowed upon collective societies among others.

A collecting society, also known as a copyright collecting agency or copyright collective is a body created by copyright law or private agreement which engages in collective rights management. Collecting societies have the authority to license copyrighted works and collect royalties as part of compulsory licensing or individual licences negotiated on behalf of its members. Collecting societies collect royalty payments from users of copyrighted works and distribute royalties to copyright owners.

As part of their functions, they:

• license works in which they hold the copyright or for which they act as agent on behalf of their members for specific uses 

• monitor use of those rights extended to the users of copyrighted works.  

• collect revenue relating to use of the rights. 

• distribute revenues as royalties to members for whom they act as agents. 

• Enter into reciprocal arrangements with foreign collecting societies to collect and distribute local royalties to foreign rights holders and to receive and distribute royalties earned overseas to local rights holders.

Licensing and rights management

There are two types of licenses that societies and their commercial counterparts uphold;

A Blanket licences; authorizes copyright users to use all works for which the licensing body is responsible but for a specified period of time. e.g. licences issued to various broadcasters to broadcast particular events but for a particular or specified period of time, such as sports broadcasting

Specific licences; sometimes characterized as transactional licences or individual licences, deal with particular uses of a specific work in a particular context and for a specific time. 

Collective administration, particularly of secondary uses such as broadcasting, has developed with the proliferation of rights and uses. Collective administration spreads the cost of administration, like establishment and maintenance of databases, exemplary litigation, employment of advocates, over all members of the society. 

'Blanket licensing' reduces the cost to consumers, with users paying a single fee for access to the whole of a society's repertoire, thereby eliminating high transaction costs that would be incurred through clearing rights with every individual author, publisher, composer, lyricist, artist, performer and record company.

Rights management is complex and concerns widely differing rights such as reproduction rights, for example, copying by publishers, schools, businesses, government agencies, public performance rights, lending and rental rights, broadcasting and cable retransmission rights amongst others.

Collective licencing applies to a single territory but reciprocal agreements between societies mean that it allows rights holders to gain remuneration for uses across the globe.

Examples of collecting societies in Africa include the Music Copyright Society of Kenya which was recently deregistered over alleged mismanagement of funds, the Reproduction Rights Society of Kenya, Kenya Association of Music Producers and the Performers Rights Society of Kenya. Malawi reportedly has only one collecting society known as the Collecting Society of Malawi (COSOMA) which, as per its mandate, represents the rights of authors, composers, performers and publishers among others.

Collecting Societies to be registered (Section 57)

No collecting society shall operate in Uganda without a registration certificate issued by the Registrar of Companies. The Registrar of Companies shall not register another society in respect of the same bundle of rights and category of works if there exists another society that has already been licensed and functions to the satisfaction of its members. 

 Any person operating as a collecting society or causing any society or body to operate as a collecting society without a registration certificate commits an offence and is liable on conviction to  a fine not exceeding one hundred currency points or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or to both the fine and imprisonment. 

Qualifications for registration (Section 58)

 The Registrar may register as a collecting society any society or body which 

has for its main object the promotion of  the economic and social interest of its members through defending their copyright  and neighbouring right interests and  whose function or other objects include any of the following:

- In cooperation with other relevant bodies and organisations, to promote and encourage creativity in the artistic, literary and scientific fields in Uganda; 

- to promote and carry out public awareness on copyright and neighbouring rights; 

- to pay the royalties to its members who are the appropriate beneficiaries; 

- to make reciprocal agreements with foreign societies or other bodies of authors or neighbouring rights owners for the issue of authorizations in respect of their members’ works and for the collection and distribution of copyright fees deriving from those works; 

- to help in the preparation of its members standard forms of contract for the benefit and use of its authors and neighbouring rights owners, and to act as an intermediary for the conclusion of contracts between its members and the users of their works; 

- to foster harmony and understanding between its members with the users of their works as is necessary for the protection of their economic rights; 

- to provide its members or other persons in need of it, with information on all matters relating to copyright and neighbouring rights and to give advice and keep its members informed about their rights and interests; 

- to act as agent for its members  in relation to their copyright and neighbouring rights interests; 

- to do any act necessary in relation to the copyright and neighbouring rights and interests of its members. 

 Conditions for registration (Section 59) 

The Registrar shall not register a society unless under the following circumstances: 

- the Registrar is satisfied that the society is capable of promoting its members’ interests and of discharging its functions and objectives. 

- it consists of at least thirty persons all of whom are, according to its articles and rules qualified to be members.

- the society is incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act. 

 Application for registration (Section 60) 

An application for registration of a collecting society shall be made to the Registrar in a prescribed form and shall be signed by at least thirty members of the society. The application shall be accompanied by three copies of the proposed articles and rules of the Society, a copy of the certificate of registration as a non-governmental organisation and such other information as the Registrar may require. 

Cancellation of registration (Section 63)

At any time during the period of registration of a society on probation, the Registrar may, by notice in writing to the person responsible for running the society, cancel the probationary registration of the society stating reasons for the cancellation and the society shall, from the date of service of the notice, cease to be a registered society. The cancellation shall be published in the Gazette and in at least one of the prominent newspapers in Uganda.

Full registration of society (Section 64)

Where at the end of the probation the registrar is satisfied with the functioning of the society the Registrar shall fully register the society as a collecting society. A society shall, on full registration, become a body corporate by the name under which it is registered, with perpetual succession and a common seal, and with power to hold movable and immovable property of every description, to enter into contracts, to institute and defend suits and other legal proceedings and to do all things necessary for the purpose of its operations. 

If the Registrar is satisfied that a society’s original certificate of registration has been lost or destroyed, the Registrar may issue a duplicate certificate. 

All assets, rights and liabilities vested in the board of trustees of the society during the period of the registration on probation shall vest in the society as a body corporate.

Cancellation of registration of a collecting society (Section 77)

The Registrar may, by order in writing, cancel the registration of any society, if satisfied that— 

• the registration was obtained by fraud or mistake; 

• the society has exhibited operations for an illegal purpose; 

• the society is no longer operating in accordance with this Act; 

• the number of members of the society has fallen below the minimum required by this Act; or 

• the society has not commenced operations or has ceased to operate for two consecutive years.

Where the registration of a society is cancelled, the society shall cease to exist as a body corporate as from the date the cancellation takes effect. On the making of an order to cancel the registration of a society, a copy of the order shall be placed on the file maintained by the registrar in respect of the society and gazetted and published in at least one of the leading newspapers in Uganda.