Publisher Membership: Assessment of Eligibility

Please note: The below form is an assessment of eligibility for APRA AMCOS publisher membership only. The documents you upload will be reviewed by our legal team which takes approx 2-3 weeks. If you are eligible, then PDF application forms will be emailed to you to complete and return to us. These will then submitted to the Board who meet approx every 3-4 months.

What you need before you apply as a music publisher member;

If you have formed a music publishing company and wish to become a full publisher member, you'll need to meet the following requirements:

You are a bona fide music publishing business in Australia, New Zealand and/or a South Pacific Nation. A “bona fide music publishing business” means a business that:
- has ownership of, is assigned or licensed from a composer or an author the copyright in a minimum of one musical (or musical and literary) work (“musical work”) which has been reproduced and commercially released or exploited or published in some other form;
- carries out as some of its day-to-day activities:
  - administration of copyright in the musical works it owns or controls (including but not limited to the registration of the copyright details with APRA and/or AMCOS and accounting and payment of royalties and fees to the relevant composers and/or authors);
  - management of the various rights in the musical works it owns and/or controls including but not limited to reproduction, and performing rights; and
  - licensing the use of the musical works it owns and/or controls to third parties; and
- has engaged the services of a person who is actively involved in managing the business’ ongoing day-to-day music publishing activities in Australia, New Zealand and/or a South Pacific Nation.
You have a signed music publishing agreement with a minimum of one composer and/or author who is a member of APRA.
Your signed music publishing agreement includes a clause recognising the prior and/or subsequent assignment of performing rights by the composer and/or author to APRA.
You have a local bank account located in Australia, New Zealand or a South Pacific Nation.
You have a Certificate of Registration of a Business Name or Company Number from ASIC or the NZ Companies Office, which must match the company or business name on your application.

Music Publishers support the careers of songwriters & composers in many different ways, including;

Investing in them
Creating commercial opportunities for their songs through licensing exploitations
Providing co-writing collaborations
Removing the administrative burden of song split registrations
Provide royalty accounting and analysis

In order to be elected, the APRA & AMCOS Board must be satisfied that an applicant meets the basic criteria. Please do not apply below unless you meet the eligibility requirements as listed on our website.

Please fill out the following Assessment questions in order to receive PDF application forms for publisher membership via email. Once you have returned the completed, signed and witnessed application forms, they will be submitted to the APRA AMCOS Board for review. The Board meet approximately every 2 months.

The information entered below must match information held at
ASIC, Australian Business Register or NZ Companies Office

FAQs

As well as joining APRA AMCOS as a publsher, do I need to join an international society?
No. APRA AMCOS has reciprocal agreements with societies worldwide. The local society will collect and forward royalties to APRA AMCOS, which we will then pay you.
Do I need to join APRA AMCOS if I'm already a publisher member of an international society (e.g. ASCAP) and my songs are played in Australasia?
No. APRA AMCOS will collect royalties for your music performed in Australasia and forward them to your international society.
Can I publish myself as a sole-trader?
No you cannot publish yourself as a sole-trader. Only if you represent other writers’ catalogues do you need to become a publisher member. If you are a songwriter who only represents your own catalogue you should, however, make sure you’ve joined both APRA and, if you are unpublished, AMCOS as a writer member
Can I apply using my ABN which is a Trust
No, a Trust cannot be a member of APRA AMCOS because it is not a legal entity (which is why it needs a trustee). The trust also cannot own property, including copyrights, for the same reason. This is why the trustee holds the property on trust - the trustee is the legal owner.

Your full name*

First NameLast Name

Entity (Legal) name of Company or Business:*

NOTE: Entity name CANNOT be changed once elected as a member

Entity/Business Type (Please refer to your ABN/NZBN online and populate this with the entity or business type. See: https://abr.business.gov.au/ or https://www.nzbn.govt.nz/)*

NOTE: Entity type CANNOT be any type of Trust or Partnership

Business name (if applicable, cannot be a Trust):

Business Names MUST be linked to your ABN and registered with ASIC/ABR or NZ Companies Office/NZBN

Address*

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province

Postal / Zip Code

Country*

Email*

example@example.com

Phone Number*

Area CodePhone Number

Website

Facebook

Instagram

ABN (must match Legal name above, cannot be a Trust)

Cannot be a Trust or Partnership ABN and must match entity name & business name above

NZBN (must match Legal name above, cannot be a Trust)

Cannot be a Trust or Partnership ABN and must match entity name & business name above

ACN / NZCN (if applicable)

GST Registered*

YesNo

IRD (required for NZ if GST registered)

Does the publisher want to join APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association)?*

YesNo

Does the publisher want to join AMCOS (Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Association)?*

YesNo

Are you an APRA Writer Member applying for Publisher Membership?*

YesNo

Which of the following best describes your business?*

Music Publishing Corporation (Pty Ltd or Ltd) which is a publisher of a copyright workCorporation (Pty Ltd or Ltd) which owns or controls the rights in a copyright work, but is not in the business of music publishingMusic Production Company Corporation (Pty Ltd or Ltd) which owns or controls the rights in a copyright work, but is not in the business of music publishingSole-Trader with a registered music publishing Business, not being a corporation, and is a publisher of a copyright work

Please provide a brief description of your music publishing business.*

Do you control the reproduction rights in certain musical works in Australia, New Zealand and/or a South Pacific Nation?*

YesNo

Is your publishing business already a member of another Performing Rights Organisation (PRO) or Mechanical Rights Organisation (MRO)? If so, please list those you have joined (e.g. ASCAP, BMI, PRS, JASRAC, GEMA etc or type N/A):*

APRA does not permit concurrent or split memberships across Performing Rights Organisations (PROs). Do you understand that if your legal entity is already a member of another PRO that you will be ineligible for membership? (You can read more about reciprocal agreements on our website here): https://www.apraamcos.com.au/music-creators/membership-explained/royalties-overview/international-royalties*

YesNo

APRA and AMCOS publisher membership is not open to record labels. If you are a label please confirm your company or business is also operating as a music publisher?*

YesNo

I understand that I will no longer be eligible for publisher membership if my ABN/NZBN is deregistered, cancelled or if my business is restructured which requires a new ABN/NZBN. If this occurs, I will advise APRA AMCOS.*

Yes

Please answer the following questions to see whether you are eligible:

Can you provide a Certificate of Registration of a Company or Business Name from ASIC or the NZ Companies Office? Must match the entity (legal) name and business/trading name on your application.*

YesNo

Please attach a copy of your Certificate of Registration of a Company or Business Name from ASIC or the NZ Companies Office.*

Browse Files

Available formats include pdf, doc, docx,txt, rtf, jpg, jpeg, png

Can you provide contact details for the following roles within your publishing company or business: Director, Copyright, Royalties, Financial Controller, Licensing, A&R etc?*

YesNo

Who is the main Copyright contact responsible for registering works and agreements?:*

name@domain.com

Who is the main Financial Controller contact responsible for royalty statements?*

name@domain.com

Who is the main 'Team Admin' contact responsible for the portal access/permissions for all publishing staff? *

name@domain.com

Does the publisher have ownership of, is assigned or licensed from a composer or an author the copyright in a minimum of one musical (or musical and literary) work ("musical work") which has been reproduced and commercially released or exploited or published in some form?*

YesNo

Does the publisher carry out these day-to-day activities? (i) Administration of copyright in the musical works it owns or controls (including but not limited to the registration of the copyright details with APRA and/or AMCOS and accounting and payment or royalties and fees to the relevant composers and/or authors. (ii) Management of the various rights in the musical works it owns and/or controls including but not limited to reproduction, and performing rights. (iii) Licensing the use of the musical works it owns and/or controls to third parties.*

YesNo

Has the publisher engaged the services of a person who is actively involved in managing the business' ongoing day-to-day music publishing activities in Australia, New Zealand and/or a South Pacific Nation?*

YesNo

Please list their name, role & address here:*

I can confirm that my publishing business has a local bank account located in Australia, New Zealand or a South Pacific Nation. The bank account cannot be an overseas account.*

YesNo

A publishing agreement is between two entities i.e. your legal documents will show that writer (ABN #1) assigns their rights to your business (ABN #2). Please confirm you understand that you cannot publish yourself as an Individual/Sole Trader?*

YesNo

APRA AMCOS does not provide standard publishing templates, but did you know The Arts Law Centre of Australia can provide a checklist which outlines the basic concepts of music publishing agreements here?: https://www.artslaw.com.au/product/music-publishing-checklist/.

YesNo

Does the publisher have a signed music publishing agreement with a minimum of one composer and/or author who is a member of APRA?*

YesNo

Please provide the name of at least one APRA member you publish:*

Can you provide a signed standard publishing agreement in use by your company/business? Note: you will need legal advice to draw up an agreement and this must be fully executed, i.e. signed by your company representative and the writer. (APRA AMCOS cannot provide legal advice, in Australia contact www.artslaw.com.au).*

YesNo

Can you confirm your signed standard publishing agreement is a valid publishing agreement which has details regarding terms, territory, performing & mechanical rights? (i.e. NOT Master Rights for recordings) (APRA AMCOS cannot provide legal advice, in Australia contact www.artslaw.com.au). UNSIGNED AGREEMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED*

YesNo

NOTE: UNSIGNED PUBLISHING AGREEMENTS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR MEMBERSHIP (i.e they must be fully executed). Please attach a signed standard publishing agreement (feel free to blank out any confidential clauses). To avoid delaying your application we recommend you seek legal advice and have a lawyer write up this legal contract. This is the legal document that writers will sign when signing to your publishing company and they will likely be discussing the terms with their legal representation as well. It must include the Company Name/Business Name listed above. If the writer has signed to an OS publisher please provide the full chain of ownership i.e. Writer > OS Publisher > Local Sub Publisher *

Browse Files

Agreement attached MUST be signed by writer & publisher.

Can you confirm your publishing agreement recognises the prior and/or subsequent assignment of performing rights by the composer/songwriter to APRA or an affiliated international performing right society (PRO), in a form such as the following clause: “…The Writer hereby assigns to the Publisher all copyright in musical compositions and lyrics written by him/her, subject to his/her assignment of rights to the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) or an affiliated performing right society…”.*

YesNo

Please indicate where the above clause can be found in your attached publishing agreement (e.g. Clause 2.3 or page 2).*

Can you confirm that as a publisher member, you understand that part of your admin role is to register with APRA AMCOS your ongoing agreement details in our database? This includes when your agreements are amended, new specific works are added or when agreements terminate. This can be done manually using our agreement registration form via our publisher portal (At present APRA does not yet accept CAF files)*

Yes

Can you confirm that as a publisher member, you understand that part of your admin role is to register with APRA AMCOS your musical works in our database? This can be done using our manual work registration form via publisher portal or in bulk using CWR v2.2 files.*

Yes

Please answer these questions about your works:

Approximate number of songwriters you control? *

Approximate number of works in your catalogue? *

Do you currently publish multiple songwriters?*

YesNo

Please list up to 3 songwriters that you publish. (Note: You cannot publish yourself as a sole-trader)*

Please list up to 3 works titles that you publish.*

If you have a signed admin deal with another publisher and they will be doing the registration of your works please let us know who that is here:

If you are an APRA Writer Member, do you publish your own works?*

YesNo

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