ABSTRACT
In January 1851, the Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique (SACEM) was established in Paris to work for the recognition of rights and to assist in the prosecution of infringers. Similar organizations were founded in other countries. France had the first laws (1905) to protect the producers of recordings against unwarranted reproductions. The Société demanded royalties on all records sold, and despite some setbacks, like the 1906 decision in Belgium against copyright holders, the movement took hold. In Italy in 1906 a composer society won a suit for royalties on record sales. In the U.S. the Copyright Act of 1909 included coverage of recordings, calling for a $0.02 royalty. These became known as “mechanical rights,” while performance rights was defined as any “public performance,” including live or broadcast performances. The major publishers’ associations enforcing these rights in the U.S. are ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Artists, and Performers), founded in 1914 (which employs the Harry Fox Agency to represent its member publishers for mechanical rights), and BMI, a rival organization that arose in 1940. The American Mechanical Rights Association (AMRA) is one among several agencies that represents publishers, composers, and record companies in licensing mechanical rights.
