Royalties from photocopies made abroad

English professors John W. Griffith and Charles H. Frey jointly edited an anthology of the most celebrated and enduring children’s literary works in the English-speaking tradition. In its fourth edition, “Classics of Children’s Literature,” has remained in print and provided the authors with royalty checks throughout the years. Now, thanks to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), the authors have each received checks for over $1,000 representing their share of fees collected in 11 European countries for photocopying of the book.

Previously unknown to both professors, CCC, the largest licenser of photocopy reproduction rights in the world, last year distributed to U.S. authors and publishers $2.5 million they collected from overseas reproduction rights organizations (RROs). These RROs collect photocopy fees under special national licensing statutes in their respective countries.

But many of the RROs do not acquire information about the identities of authors or specific titles of the works used, only the countries of origin and categories of the printed material copied. So, when CCC repatriated the fees collected by RROs for copying of U.S. works, they did not have individual authors identified.

CCC, itself a not-for-profit reproduction rights organization, set out to rectify the situation. They worked with econometric consultants to create a proxy model of authors based on title-specific copying information from other countries.

According to Joseph S. Alen, president and CEO of CCC, the proxy model was the basis for the list of authors who were mailed checks. “This new initiative puts previously undistributable foreign funds directly into the hands of more than 3,300 authors, as well as more than 1,600 publishers and several hundred other creators, ” Alen said.

CCC says the vast majority of the non-title specific payments collected along with future payments will be divided equally between authors and publishers. Included among the group identified to receive the royalties were more than 1,000 academic and textbook authors like Frey and Griffith.

Because authors are harder to locate than publishers, CCC has developed an online system to facilitate author registration in their various licensing programs. Registration with CCC is nonexclusive and free. It also allows authors to set the copying fees for their works in U.S. markets and establish other licensing terms. Daniel Gervais, director of rightsholder relations for CCC, says by registering with the program authors expedite delivery of future payments and gain more exposure for their works.

Currently, CCC has bilateral agreements with RROs in 11 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

For more information about CCC’s author services or to register your works visit them at http://copyright.com. ¶

Bart Arenson