Guides

Music publishing in Australia and New Zealand

How music publishing actually works in Australia and New Zealand: who claims which rights, what the national copyright system does, and what it takes for a publisher to set up and collect.

Who claims which rights

Performance and mechanical: APRA AMCOS, both countries, one organization. Sync: direct.

Copyright registration in Australia and New Zealand

Automatic under Berne in both countries; no registries.

Setting up to claim publishing rights

Here is a territory where presence genuinely matters: APRA's publisher full membership requires a bona fide music publishing business operating in Australia, New Zealand, or a South Pacific nation. Foreign publishers therefore either establish a local entity or — far more commonly — appoint an Australasian sub-publisher, who registers and collects for the pair of countries as one territory.

The societies

APRA AMCOS — each linked page covers the society’s history and how registrations reach it.

Rules, fees, and society requirements change, and none of this is legal advice — confirm current requirements with the society or local counsel before committing. Registrations bound for Australia and New Zealand can be checked free on the validator · more: setting up country by country · which societies accept CWR.

Two free checks for your CWR file. Is the file correct? Every record, share and control total against the spec, each problem on its exact line. Do its writers match their registrations? Every writer cross-checked against public registration data, including works registered under another spelling or IPI. Nothing stored: check a file at cwrcheck.com.