New share rules

After the final migration: the new derivation logic is here

The implementation of the new share rules as adopted by the General Assembly in 2020 was concluded on 17 March 2022. The first payout shall take place on 1 June 2022.

As a part of the migration to the new share rules, there will also be changes to some processes that might affect you as a member:

In the case of the work registration confirmations, the author’s agreement will be listed first in the Agreements section. Below that, the agreements entered into between the author and one or several publishers will be shown (derivation logic).
In the Enhanced repertoire search and the Online Portal under My repertoire, just like in the work registration confirmation, the publisher will be shown in the share picture as often as an author-publisher relationship exists.

Current information

Return to service of the Electronic Confirmation Process (ECP) on 6 April

The Electronic Confirmation Process (ECP) has also been adapted to the derivation logic. Until now, the publisher was able to see all authors of a work were shown in the ECP lists and could therefore mark the ones for which it submits a participation claim for statutory remuneration rights. The publisher now only sees those authors in the ECP list for whom the publisher already has a registered agreement in the GEMA works database. Please register a new author-publisher relationship via a work declaration. The publisher may, just as before, add the publisher attribute or remove the author-publisher relationship. This leads to an automated process for the termination of the registered agreement in the work. More details are available under Description of the online service ECP. You find all new features and important tips in the ECP description document on page 3.

Go to Electronic Confirmation Process (ECP)

Adaptations for the work declaration in the Online Portal and the web-based registration process

The input mask for the author-publisher relationship has been customised. An essential component of the new share rules is the derivation of the publisher shares from the shares of the authors published by the publisher. This means that a correct depiction of the publisher shares is only possible if the relationship between an author and the publisher has been documented in the GEMA database. If an author is represented by more than one publisher, the percentage-based share of the derived publisher share onto the publishers taking over the share must be unequivocal and documented accordingly. Please provide these details in the new input mask.

Go to work declaration

Works with asymmetric VRTs [Vertreten-von-Verweise, represented-by-references] in the existing work documentation

As explained above with regard to the work declaration, in order for a migration of a work to take place into the derivation logic, the relationship between an author and the publisher and, in the case of co-publishers, the percentage-based split of the derived publisher share onto the publishers taking over the share had to be documented unequivocally in the GEMA database. Since these conditions had not been met in each case, at the request of the publishers we will provide you with two new work lists for the sake of transparency.

The first work list contains asymmetric works which were subject to VRT additions so that a migration into the derivation logic became possible. The work list contains works which occurred in the 2020 financial year and works which were registered for the first time after 1 January 2021.
The second work list contains asymmetric works with an even share division between the co-publishers of an author after the migration.

With the two attached files, you can check the automatically complemented VRTs and compare them with your own work data.

How the share rules will change

Introduction of a derivation logic
The new derivation logic makes a lot of things easier. It replaces the existing “drawer logic” of the distribution plan with its roughly 1,500 different distribution keys for the most diverse constellations of participants. The shares will be determined by few rules that logically build on one another in future.

Enhancement and simplification of the free agreement on the shares in the performing rights (AR)
You can apply the free agreement on the creators’ shares in the AR categories at the same time as registering the work for all new works.

You can find the previous course of the project and the next steps for the migration of the share rules in our appointment overview.

More on the background of the new share rules
Archive: Deviation reports

FAQ – frequently asked questions on the new share rules

When will the new share rules apply?

At this time, it is envisaged that the new share rules will be applied to the distribution dates from 1 June 2022.

You can find the previous course of the project and the next steps for the conversion to the new share rules in our appointment overview.

Is there an overview of the old/new share pictures?

Yes, there is. You can get an overview here (document is in German).

What does Vertreten-Von-Verweis (represented-by-reference, in short: VRT, a.k.a. PWR, publisher-writer-relationship) mean?

Vertreten-Von-Verweise show which creator is represented by which publisher or publishers. They therefore depict which publishing agreements were registered and documented with us.

Is every split-copyright work automatically a work with asymmetrical VRTs (Vertreten-Von-Verweis, represented-by-reference, in short: VRT, a.k.a. PWR, publisher-writer-relationship)?

No. Works with asymmetrical VRTs are works where more than one creator is published by more than one publisher and where one or all of the co-publishers appear in other chains of title, but not in all chains of title.

Example of an asymmetric work:

C1 is represented by original publishers E1 and E2
C2 is represented by E2 and E3
C3 is represented by E3 and E4 and E5
C4 is represented by E5

The following work is not asymmetrical:

C1 is represented by E1 and E2
C2 is represented by E3 and E4
C3 is represented by E5
C4 is represented by E5

The following work is not a work with asymmetrical VRTs either:

C1 is represented by E1 and E2
C2 is represented by E1 and E2
C3 is represented by E1 and E2
C4 is represented by E1 and E2