CISAC Global Collections Report 2021
CISAC Global Collections Report reveals intellectual property royalties for creators and performers have grown 5.8% in 2021, but are still below pre-COVID levels.
Last week, CISAC – the international body for copyright organisations – released their annual Global Collections Report, which announced an increase in royalties paid out to creators around the world, across all disciplines.
Creators and performers including visual artists, writers, actors and musicians, rely on copyright and other intellectual property royalties to earn a living from their work. Copyright and Artist’s Resale Right is hugely valuable for visual artists, many of whom use their royalties to invest back into their practice.
Creators received £8.66 billion (9.8 billion Euros) in 2021 – a 5.8% rise on the previous year. After the devastation of covid, this return to growth is welcome news but remains below that of pre-pandemic levels.
The UK continues to perform strongly as one of the top 3 collecting nations, and the fastest growing market with collections increasing by +15.2% compared to pre-pandemic years.
This overall growth is underpinned by a 27.9% increase in digital royalties. This is largely made up of increased use of streaming and subscription services and the implementation in Europe of the digital single market copyright directive, which ensures creators in those territories are remunerated for use of their work on online platforms.The report notes the ‘potential for further digital growth and the urgent need for actions to unlock more value’ for creators in this area.
Income from the Artists Resale Right (ARR) grew by 23% in 2021, to more than reverse the decline seen the previous year. ARR royalties are paid to artists when their work is resold on the secondary market by an auction house or gallery. In 2020, resale right income fell by -18% when such businesses were forced to close due to successive lockdowns.
The UK remained a primary contributor at 30.3% of the global ARR total but growth was seen in eight of the top ten collecting countries. DACS in the UK said the resale right market had improved in 2021 with “art market professionals finding ways to operate under less restrictive lockdown conditions”.
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