ISRC International Agency Bulletin 2006/01 Approval of ... - IFPI

ISRC International Agency Bulletin 2006/01
Approval of Agents to Issue ISRCs
8 March 2006
The International ISRC Agency announces today that National ISRC Agencies may now
accept applications from agents to allocate ISRC codes on behalf of record
producers. This should ensure that the benefits of the ISRC system are available to
users that may not have the resources or skills to do it for themselves. In particular,
smaller producers will have easier access to those online retailers that require an
ISRC to have been issued before it can be sold.
This announcement follows a successful trial in the USA.
These arrangements are voluntary and small record producers (as well as all other
producers) may still assign their own ISRC codes if they wish.
National Agencies should establish their own procedures for approving agents but
they must ensure that agents abide by the rules (“Procedures for Allocation of ISRCs
by Agents”) set out below. National Agencies must ensure that their rules are fair and
non-discriminatory, for instance between members of industry associations and
non-members. The rules set out below are issued by the International ISRC Agency
for the purpose of ensuring that ISRC allocation is managed in an accurate and
efficient way where there is no uncertainty as to who is responsible for ISRC
allocation.
This information will be incorporated into the ISRC Handbook in due course.
Enquiries from National Agencies about this new facility may be addressed to:
IFPI Secretariat is the ISO appointed International Registration Authority
for the ISO International Standard ISO 3901: International Standard Recording Code
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International ISRC Agency
IFPI Secretariat
54 Regent St
London W1B 5RE
UK
isrc@ifpi.org
www.ifpi.org/isrc
Enquiries about becoming an agent should be addressed to the National ISRC Agency
in the relevant territory. Note however that not all National Agencies may choose to
use this facility and there may be some delay before those that wish to are ready to
accept applications. A list of National ISRC Agencies is available at www.ifpi.org/isrc.
IFPI Secretariat is the ISO appointed International Registration Authority
for the ISO International Standard ISO 3901: International Standard Recording Code
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Procedures for Allocation of ISRCs by Agents
1 DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of these procedures, the following definitions apply:
Recording:
Independent Artist:
Small Label:
A sound recording or music video recording to
which an ISRC can be allocated.
An artist or group of artists who
(i) are not signed to a label, other than a label set
up purely to own the rights in their own
Recordings,
(ii) produce their own Recordings and
(iii) do not expect to create more than 50
Recordings per year.
A producer of Recordings that does not qualify as
an Independent Artist but does wish to allocate
ISRCs to its own Recordings.
Note: Although it is expected that these
arrangements will be most attractive to small
companies, they are available to any producer.
Small Producer:
Agent:
A producer of Recordings that is either an
Independent Artist or a Small Label.
An entity allocating ISRCs on behalf of a Small
Producer that has been approved as such by a
National ISRC Agency.
2 APPLICATIONS TO ALLOCATE ISRCS ON BEHALF OF SMALL PRODUCERS
An Agent may apply to a National ISRC Agency to be approved to assign ISRCs to
Recordings on behalf of a Small Producer under the following conditions:
2.1 The Agent and the Small Producer enter into a formal agreement that
authorizes this.
Note: this may be a formally signed contract, a click-through agreement
or part of standard terms of business. In any case, the terms of the
appointment must be completely clear to both parties.
2.2 The agreement appoints the Agent exclusively with respect to some welldefined
part of the Small Producer’s repertoire (the Nominated
Repertoire). For instance, the appointment may cover the entire
repertoire, “all recordings made since 1 January 2001” or “all classical
IFPI Secretariat is the ISO appointed International Registration Authority
for the ISO International Standard ISO 3901: International Standard Recording Code
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ecordings.” Nominating only that part of a label’s repertoire, which is
licensed to the Agent for other purposes, is also acceptable but very
careful records need to be kept to support this.
Note: the appointment as an Agent for ISRC allocation is to be considered
entirely separate from any other appointment as licensee or distributor of
repertoire. Other appointments may be exclusive or non-exclusive, and
may not be connected with the appointment as an ISRC Agent.
2.3 The Small Producer commits to ensure that no other Agent is appointed
to allocate ISRCs to Recordings in the Nominated Repertoire and that it
does not itself allocate ISRCs to Recordings in the Nominated Repertoire.
2.4 The Agent commits to inform the Small Producer of the ISRCs that have
been allocated to the Recordings.
2.5 The Small Producer commits to use the ISRCs allocated by the Agent in
future exploitation of the Recordings.
2.6 The Agent commits to keep good records and to make relevant records
available to the Small Producer on demand.
2.7 The Agent and the Small Producer may agree such terms (financial and
other) with respect to the appointment as agent as they desire, provided
they do not conflict with this Procedure.
2.8 If an agreement to act as Agent for a Small Producer is terminated or
expires, then all records must be transferred to that Small Producer.
2.8.1 If the Small Producer is a Small Label, then control of the
Registrant Code must also be transferred to the Small Label.
Note: This will allow the Small Label to continue to allocate
ISRCs without fear of duplication. Alternatively, it will allow a
subsequently appointed Agent to do so.
2.9 If an Independent Artist who has previously used the services of an Agent
establishes a relationship with a new Agent, the ISRCs allocated by the
previous agent should continue to be used. No new ISRCs should be
allocated to Tracks that have already had one allocated.
Note: The Agent may use the previously allocated ISRCs in managing the
Independent Artist’s repertoire but this would be outside the scope of
their appointment as an Agent.
IFPI Secretariat is the ISO appointed International Registration Authority
for the ISO International Standard ISO 3901: International Standard Recording Code
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2.10 If a Small Label which has previously used the services of an Agent
establishes a relationship with a new Agent, it should transfer to the new
Agent (i) all records obtained from the old Agent and (ii) control of its
Registrant Code. The new Agent should continue to use this Registrant
Code for the Nominated Repertoire.
Note: Where a label has had different Agents for different Nominated
Repertoires, then the arrangements for new Agents should ensure (i) that
each Registrant Code is under the control of a single Agent or of a
Producer and (ii) that no more Registrant Codes are issued than is
necessary.
3 USE OF REGISTRANT CODE
The Agent must use an appropriate Registrant Code as follows:
3.1 If the Small Producer is an Independent Artist, then the Agent shall obtain
a single Registrant Code from the National ISRC Agency in the territory
where it is based. The Agent shall inform its National ISRC Agency that
the Registrant Code is to be used by an Agent on behalf of Independent
Artists.
3.1.1 It shall use this Registrant Code in respect of all Independent
Artists for which it acts.
3.1.2 The Agent shall ensure that Recordings to which an ISRC is
assigned are registered with appropriate metadata in the
industry database relevant to the Independent Artist, i.e., the
database that they would have registered with if they had
done so themselves. If the country of residence of the Agent
and the Independent Artist are different, this will require
careful consideration and probably consultation between the
parties.
Note: If the Agent and the Independent Artist are based in
different territories, then the ISRCs allocated will carry the
Country Code (see ISO3901 and ISRC Handbook) of the Agent
not the Independent Artist. This is NOT a concern because,
once allocated, the ISRC is a “dumb number” and no inference
should be made from the Country Code about the territory
where the recording was made or is owned.
3.2 If the Small Producer is a Small Label, then the Agent shall obtain a
Registrant Code on behalf of the Small Label from the National ISRC
Agency in the country of residence of the Small Label. The Agent shall
IFPI Secretariat is the ISO appointed International Registration Authority
for the ISO International Standard ISO 3901: International Standard Recording Code
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inform the National ISRC Agency that the Registrant Code is being
requested by an Agent on behalf of a Small Label that has authorized it
for this purpose.
3.2.1 It shall use this Registrant Code for all Recordings from the
Nominated Repertoire of the Small Label.
3.2.2 The Agent shall ensure that Recordings to which an ISRC is
assigned are registered with appropriate metadata in the
industry database relevant to the Small Label. This will
normally be the database associated with the country of
residence of the Small Label.
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IFPI Secretariat is the ISO appointed International Registration Authority
for the ISO International Standard ISO 3901: International Standard Recording Code
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