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COPYRIGHT LICENSING AGREEMENTS AND INTERME-DIARY MANAGEMENT AGREE-MENTS
The public at large is generally aware that use of a copyright work without permission is likely to constitute infringement. However, if a copyright holder has made an agreement with a third party to license the use of a copyright work, but sub-sequently joins a copyright intermediary or-ganization, it remains a subject of frequent dis-pute whether users should apply for permissions to the intermediary organization or to the owner of economic rights in the work.
Article 10 Paragraph 2 of the Copyright Inter-mediary Organization Act (CIOA) provides that an owner of economic rights in a copyright work may not concurrently be a member of more than one intermediary organization handling the same type of intermediary business in respect of the same category of works. Article 13 Paragraphs 1 and 2 respectively provide that a member of such an organization must enter into a copyright management agreement with the organization and place the economic rights in its works under the organization's management; and that within the scope of the rights managed by the organi-zation, a member may not itself grant a license or cause a third party to grant a license on its behalf.
The Intellectual Property Office has also issued a legal interpretation stating that copyright inter-mediary organizations are established for the purpose of managing the economic rights in copyright works on their members' behalf, and it can be seen from the provisions of the CIOA that after the owner of economic rights in a work has joined an intermediary organization, it must place such rights under the organization's man-agement.
That is to say, the rights holder places all its economic rights in copyright works under the management of the intermediary organization, including rights acquired after the agreement is concluded. If, after joining an intermediary or-ganization, a rights holder were permitted to li-cense part of its economic rights in works to others, whether on its own account or through the agency of a third party, then users would have no sure means of ascertaining with whom they should negotiate licensing for the use of such works, and this would inevitably lead to dupli-cation of licensing, leading to disorder in the copyright licensing market.
However, if a rights holder has entered into a licensing agreement with a third party before joining a copyright intermediary organization, such an agreement is not affected by the fact of the rights holder joining the intermediary or-ganization. But after the prior licensing agree-ment expires, under the provisions of Article 13 Paragraph 2 of the CIOA the rights holder may not then itself further license the work concerned, or cause a third party to license the work on its behalf.