Global Music Rights Leaders to Gather in Australia for CISAC Meeting

The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) is convening its Board of Directors in Australia for the first time in 25 years, to celebrate 100 years of protecting creators' rights.

Hosted by APRA AMCOS, the meeting will bring together representatives from 228 collecting societies spanning 111 countries - organisations responsible for protecting the rights and income of more than five million creators worldwide.

Among those attending are leaders from major music rights bodies including ASCAP (US), GEMA (Germany), JASRAC (Japan), PRS for Music (UK), SACEM (France), SAMRO (South Africa), SOCAN (Canada) and UBC (Brazil), alongside organisations representing other creative sectors such as visual arts and screenwriting. Collectively, CISAC’s global membership administers more than US$15 billion in royalties each year on behalf of creators working across music, audiovisual, literature, drama, and visual arts.

The gathering in Sydney also marks a symbolic moment for the two organisations, which were both founded a century ago on the shared principle that creative work has economic value that should be recognised and protected.

APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston, who has served as CISAC Chair since 2025, said hosting the international board meeting in Australia highlights the ongoing importance of global cooperation between collective management organisations.

“APRA and CISAC have been advocating for creators’ rights for 100 years, and to be able to meet on home soil to both celebrate our history and look forward to our next 100 years together is a great honour,” Ormston said.

A major focus of discussions is expected to be the rapid rise of generative AI and its implications for copyright, licensing, and creator income.

APRA AMCOS has been active in the policy debate, publishing its AI and Music report examining how emerging AI tools could reshape the music economy and the way creators’ work is used.

Research commissioned by CISAC suggests the global market for AI-generated music could reach €16 billion annually by 2028. Without clear licensing frameworks and regulation, the study warns that as much as 24% of music creators’ revenues could be at risk.

The conversation has been particularly active in Australia, where APRA AMCOS was part of a coalition advocating against the introduction of a broad text and data mining exception to copyright law - a proposal critics argued could have allowed large-scale use of creative works to train AI systems without compensation.

CISAC Director General Gadi Oron said the global creative community must respond collectively to ensure technological change strengthens, rather than undermines, the creative economy.

“The scale of transformation we are witnessing today calls for the same collective resolve that defined our founding a century ago,” Oron said. “Human creativity is the fuel that powers AI systems and it must be protected, respected and fairly remunerated.”

Ormston added that protecting creators, including Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, remains central to the mission shared by APRA AMCOS and its international partners.

“Creators are the cultural, social and economic fabric of every nation,” he said. “Protecting them is exactly what APRA, CISAC and our global network of societies exist to do.”