"The world is a stage" — that is how the GVL advertises itself, making clear at the same time who it is there for: performing artists, producers and promoters. This makes the society highly interesting and important, particularly for actors, voice artists, directors and musicians. By regarding the world as a stage from which artistic productions are broadcast, the Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten — GVL for short — looks after the so-called secondary exploitation rights of broadcasts. And those bring in hard cash. Until 31 March 2017 it is still possible to retrospectively register all productions from the years 2010–2012 and be remunerated for them. TV advertising can also be declared as of recently, and since 1 February 2017 cinema and television documentary films are available for actors to register, too.
What exactly does that mean? If you belong to one of the artistic groups represented by the GVL, you can become a member free of charge and register all your contributions to broadcast productions. On the basis of the tariffs it has established and the contracts it has concluded, the GVL collects the statutory remuneration claims and distributes them to those entitled. A great many artistic groups are eligible for remuneration: conductors, instrumentalists and musicians (soloists, band musicians, orchestra members and studio musicians), artistic producers, narrators and speakers, video-clip directors and video-clip producers, solo and choral singers, actors, stunt performers, dubbing actors and dubbing speakers, dancers, phonogram producers and labels, promoters, as well as dialogue and dubbing directors. "Since 1959 we have represented artists, producers and promoters in safeguarding their performance protection rights, and we work with integrity and passion to ensure they receive the revenues due to them from the exploitation of their performances. In doing so, we act as an intermediary between rights holders and rights users. Without the GVL as a collecting society, radio and television stations, as well as every restaurant or club wishing to use music or audiovisual productions, would have to reach a very specific agreement with the artists involved in a production and the relevant producers as to whether they may use it. Conversely, every entitled party would have to see to receiving their own remuneration. We at the GVL ensure instead that there is a so-called 'one-stop shop' for both sides — rights holders and rights users alike. We license the world repertoire to rights users and receive revenues for it, which we distribute to the rights holders."
How do the distributions work? Depending on the type of contribution, the broadcast duration, the size of the station and the type of production, remuneration is calculated according to a precise formula that is set anew each year by the advisory board. Contributions to productions under 40 minutes — for a series, for example — are remunerated at a flat rate. For feature films, the formula is in turn based on the number of shooting days or the takes of the dubbing artists. For most types of production, the GVL also applies a tiered scale of remuneration according to the number of repeats. For the first broadcast and the following three broadcasts, 100% of the rate is usually paid, for the next six broadcasts 50%, and from the tenth broadcast onwards a further 10%. Advertising and jingles are exempt from the repeat scale. Distribution takes place once a year, usually in September of the following year. All declarations for the previous year must be submitted by 31 March of the next year. In short: declarations for 2016 must be made by the end of March 2017. And those for 2010–2012 too!
How do I register a production? Before you can register productions, you first have to sign up with the GVL. To do so, you can download the "rights administration agreement for performing artists" from the website, fill it in and send it signed to the GVL. With the agreement you simultaneously register for the online portal www.artsys.gvl.de and automatically receive your access details and personal contract number. You can then enter the productions on the portal. The declaration is production-oriented, meaning that the detail view asks for the broadcast title, the exact date and the station. The system identifies any repeats independently. These therefore do not need to be declared again. As the TV advertising area has only just been introduced, not all companies may yet be registered. If a commercial cannot be entered, you should contact the GVL and they will look into it.
It's the final countdown — the end of March is nearly here!