International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC)

The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) was founded in 1926 and is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation. Its headquarters are in Paris, with regional offices in Budapest, Buenos Aires and Singapore. It works towards increased recognition and protection of creators' rights.

In June 2006 CISAC numbered 217 authors' societies from 114 countries and indirectly represented more than 2.5 million creators within all the artistic repertoires: music, drama, literature, audio-visual works, graphic and visual arts.

In 2004 the total amount of royalties collected by CISAC's member societies on their own national collection territories amounted to more than €6,5 billion. Despite the challenging environment (digital piracy, decline of CD sales, etc), this represented an increase of 8.6 per cent since 2002. CISAC members have striven to ensure that creators from around the world benefit from the ever-increasing popularity of their works and the development of new uses. It should be noted that income from music currently represents almost 90 per cent of all revenue.

CISAC's activities are aimed at both improving the position of authors and composers as well as enhancing the quality of the collective administration of their rights around the world. Today, faced with the increasingly easy and rapid circulation of creative works, CISAC has expanded its activities to meet the new challenges of the digital age. From historical archives on intellectual property, to current data on the business of collective administration; from the management of international standards to the creation of a worldwide network linking member societies, CISAC is, more than ever, a provider of services for its members.