Guides

Music publishing in Ireland

How music publishing actually works in Ireland: 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: IMRO. Mechanicals: MCPS Ireland. Sync: direct.

Copyright registration in Ireland

Automatic under Berne; no registry.

Setting up to claim publishing rights

IMRO membership parallels PRS and the societies work closely; UK-based representation usually covers Ireland in practice, and many publishers treat the two as one delivery.

The societies

IMRO — 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 Ireland 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.