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.

Check a CWR file free — errors and warnings tied to the exact line, nothing stored: cwrcheck.com.