AKKA/LAA

AKKA/LAA (Autortiesību un komunicēšanās konsultāciju aģentūra / Latvijas Autoru apvienība — the Copyright and Communication Consulting Agency / Latvian Authors Association) is a Latvian non-governmental collective management organization (collecting society) that represents authors and collectively administers their economic rights. It acts as an intermediary between authors and users of works, enabling users to legally exploit protected works while ensuring that authors receive royalties. The organization is governed by a council elected by authors. According to its Latvian Wikipedia entry, AKKA/LAA represents more than 4,800 Latvian authors and more than four million foreign authors. Its licensing and royalty-collection activities cover a broad range of uses, including public performance of music and video in cafés, restaurants, shops, hairdressers and cinemas; events such as concerts, discotheques, festivals and sports competitions; reproduction and publication of music, images, texts, sheet music, theatre performances, films and choreography; uploading of music, video, text or images to the internet; TV, radio and cable television; DJ performances; educational institutions; theatre, opera and ballet; and catalogues for searching musical works. The organization also administers remuneration for blank material carriers and handles unidentified rights holders. AKKA/LAA has attracted public criticism regarding certain uses of works in non-commercial or charitable contexts, as well as criticism from authors about significant administrative expenses, which may amount to up to 25% of collected royalties. In 2013, the Latvian Competition Council fined AKKA/LAA for abuse of a dominant position. In 1999 the organization established the Autortiesību bezgalības balva (Copyright Infinity Award), granted to authors whose works were used most and in the most diverse ways in the previous year. As a collecting society, AKKA/LAA is not a conventional commercial company but a membership-based rights-management body. Its brand identity is tied to its role as the primary collective licensing gateway for musical, audiovisual, visual, literary, choreographic and dramatic works in Latvia.

AKKA/LAA — the Copyright and Communication Consulting Agency / Latvian Authors Association — is a Latvian non-governmental collective management organization that represents authors and collectively administers their economic rights. It builds cooperation between authors and users of works so that users can legally exploit authors' works and authors can receive royalties for that use. The association's activities are directed by a council elected by authors. According to its Latvian Wikipedia entry, AKKA/LAA represents more than 4,800 Latvian authors and more than four million foreign authors. Its licensing and royalty-collection scope covers a wide range of uses: public performance of regularly played music or video in cafés, restaurants, shops, hairdressers, cinemas and other public places; events such as concerts, discotheques, festivals and sports competitions; reproduction and publication of music, images, texts, sheet music, theatre performances, films and choreography; uploading music, video, text or images to the internet; TV, radio and cable television; DJ performances; educational institutions; theatre, opera and ballet; and catalogues for searching musical works. The organization also handles remuneration for blank material carriers and represents unidentified rights holders. In 1999 the organization established an award — the Autortiesību bezgalības balva (Copyright Infinity Award) — granted to authors whose works were used most and in the most diverse ways in the previous year. The organization has drawn public criticism over certain uses of works in non-commercial or charitable contexts, as well as criticism from authors about significant administrative expenses, which may amount to up to 25% of collected royalties. In 2013 the Latvian Competition Council fined AKKA/LAA for abuse of a dominant position. As of the official website's news listings, the organization continues to operate actively, with recent items including a notice to clients, the re-election of the AKKA/LAA council, and the 34th Author Scholarship Competition.

• 2013

  Fined by the Latvian Competition Council for abuse of a dominant position.

• 1999

  Established the Autortiesību bezgalības balva (Copyright Infinity Award) for authors whose works were most used in the previous year.

• 34th Author Scholarship Competition announced.

• AKKA/LAA council re-elected.

Latvia's primary collective management organization for authors' economic rights, acting as a bridge between authors and users of protected works.

• Collective management of musical works

• Collective management of audiovisual works

• Collective management of visual works

• Collective management of literary works

• Collective management of choreographic works

• Collective management of dramatic and musical-dramatic works

• Licensing for public places (cafés, restaurants, shops, hairdressers, cinemas)

• Licensing for events (concerts, discotheques, festivals, sports competitions)

• Licensing for reproduction and publication

• Licensing for online use

• Licensing for TV, radio and cable television

• Licensing for DJ performances

• Licensing for educational institutions

• Licensing for theatre, opera and ballet

• Catalogues for searching musical works

• Blank media remuneration

1. 1AKKA/LAA official websiteakka-laa.lv
2. 2AKKA/LAA on Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3AKKA/LAA on Latvian Wikipedialv.wikipedia.org