IVARO is a copyright collecting society exclusively for visual artists. Artists (such as visual artists, authors, musicians and filmmakers) use copyright collecting societies to grant licences of their copyright to third parties. The collecting societies negotiate licences of their members’ works, collect the royalties, retain a proportion of the fees that they collect as a commission, and then distribute the remainder to their copyright owner members.
Copyright collecting societies make it easier for copyright owners to licence their work. They also simplify the process of licensing for prospective users of copyright material who otherwise need to identify and locate the copyright owner and negotiate a licence on an individual basis.
Licensing
IVARO acts as an intermediate between copyright holders and copyright users to negotiate licenses, which allow for the reproduction of artists’ work. IVARO ensures appropriate payment, terms and conditions for copyright holders. Copyright users can count on standardised fees and a reliable licensing service.
Reprography
IVARO has an agreement with the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency (ICLA) under which ICLA pays IVARO a percentage of its gross income. In return IVARO mandates ICLA to include copying (photocopying) of visual works in the licences it sells to schools, universities and businesses. RETURN is the name of the service through which artists may claim a share of the money collected through the sale of these licenses. Membership of IVARO is not necessary to claim a share of this revenue.
Artists Resale Right
In Ireland, artists are entitled to a ‘resale royalty’ whenever their works are resold through galleries, auctions and art dealers. To qualify the work of art must be in copyright and must resell for €3,000 or more. The royalty rate starts at 4%, descending to .25% as the price of the work increases.
The resale right was introduced under an EU Directive, however, only the essential elements of the Directive have been transposed into Irish law. The current regulations, which came into effect on June 13th 2006, do not provide for compulsory collection of royalties. IVARO has been campaigning to have this unsatisfactory situation changed. Please see our Advocacy section for further details.
IVARO is collecting and distributing the artist’s resale right on behalf of members. IVARO monitors auctions and sales of Irish art, requesting information and payments from art market professionals regarding sales of our members. We distribute 85% of the sums collected back to the appropriate artists. 15% is retained to cover the administration costs of this service.
Additional Services
Reciprocal Rights Agreements with foreign collecting societies
IVARO negotiates and establishes bilateral agreements with international visual artists collecting societies. Through these reciprocal rights agreements, IVARO collects for Irish artists royalties due to them for reproduction and resale of their works in other countries.
Promoting copyright compliance
IVARO is committed to raising awareness of visual artists copyright among the general public, the media, publishers and users of artists works through the following means:
Provision of copyright advice service
Holding discussions with copyright users groups
Providing press releases to the media on relevant issues affecting artists
Education of our own members
Advocating to Government
Making submissions on the forthcoming Intellectual Property Bill to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and meeting with the respective Ministers to represent the rights of artists. In particular this focuses on elements of the artists resale right legislation such as the threshold; rights of heirs; compulsory collective management; and better right to information for artists.
Representing artists in negotiations
Meeting with representatives of the art market to discuss methods of best practice for collection of resale royalties.
Representing interests of Irish artists at national and international level
IVARO is involved in work at a national level on copyright through the Collecting Society Forum which is an informal gathering of creators rights management organisations. Lobbying at European Union level is vital to ensure that visual artists’ interests are included in forthcoming directives. As a full member of EVA and CISAC, which are the representative bodies for artists collecting societies, IVARO staff attend conferences and working group meetings held internationally to promote the concerns of Irish visual creators and to work on their behalf.
Find out more about the work of authors societies here: AuthorSocieties.Eu