World Copyright Summit 2009 sponsors include:

AMRA was set up in the mid 60’s to address the needs of writers (both foreign and domestic) so they could collect their Mechanical Royalties. This was an alternative to the existing mechanical rights society which only accepted publisher members with releases on major labels, a practice that still continues today.AMRA’s mandate from its inception was to ensure the the moral interests of authors and composers in theUnited States. AMRA gives publishers, authors and composers “equal status” in terms of protection and defense of their copyrights. AMRA collects and distributes all types of mechanical royalties (traditional and new technologies) and other rights, including ringtones, synchronization , print and transcription rights. In addition AMRA monitors payments and accountings based on direct issued licenses to US and Canadian licensees, and over 40 agreements with sister societies throughout the World. And of equal importance is personalize service at AMRA. There is no maze of phones to manuever and if needed AMRA has people who can speak numerous languages. AMRA offers its services and special knowledge to sister societies such as GEMA, the German society, AUME, the Austrian society, SAMRO, the South African society, the Caribbean societies, ACUM, the Israelis society and others. Check our website regularly to see the societies we represent in the US.  AMRA is a full member of CISAC and BIEM, the two international organizations for copyright societies, and regularly participates in society activities to be up to date on the current technologies for better data exchange and more efficient colletion. AMRA is located in Los Angeles, California with its offices in the center of the music and film industry. It currently represents around 300 authors, composers and publishers.

Artists Rights Society (ARS)[www.arsny.com] is a copyright, licensing, and monitoring organization for visual artists in the United States. ARS protects members' rights against piracy, illicit use, and copyright infringement by monitoring the use of works. It also provides reputable publishers and producers of commercial goods with a one-stop clearing house for permissions of many of the world's most prominent artists. ARS actively lobbies state and federal legislatures for stronger and more effective artists' rights laws. Successful lobbying efforts include the restoration of foreign copyrights in the U.S. and the prolongation of the U.S. copyright term, under the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act of 1998

ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization (PRO) representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre. ASCAP is home to the greatest names in American music, past and present, with more than 340,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. Through agreements with affiliated international societies, ASCAP also represents hundreds of thousands of music creators worldwide. Established in 1914, ASCAP is the only U.S. PRO owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances.

With 2008 revenues exceeding $930 million, nearly 89 cents of each dollar collected goes right back to our members in royalties. This makes ASCAP one of the most efficient Performing Rights Organizations in the world.

ASCAP is also the U.S. leader in copyright protection in the digital world, initiating important rate court proceedings to ensure fair compensation for our members and securing the best royalty rates for the public performance of our members’ works.

ASCAP has developed many technological and member benefit innovations. Mediaguide, using advanced "fingerprinting" technology, is the most comprehensive and accurate deployed performance tracking system available. MusicPro Insurance, created and co-owned by ASCAP, is the source of affordable coverage for music professionals. And the ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO has educated and inspired over 6,000 aspiring music creators.

BMI is an American performing right organization that represents more than 375,000 U.S. songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music. The company collects license fees on behalf of those American creators it represents, as well as for the thousands of creators from around the world who have chosen BMI for U.S. representation through reciprocal agreements with more than 80 sister societies. The fees for the public performances of its repertoire of more than 6.5 million compositions – including broadcast, cable and satellite radio and television airplay, Internet, and live and recorded performances by all other users of music – are then distributed as royalties to the songwriters, composers and copyright holders it represents. BMI’s latest financial results, more than $901 million for its 2008 fiscal year, are the highest performing right collections for any copyright organization in the world. BMI is a founding member of FastTrack, a global technical alliance among 12 copyright societies in 11 different countries, founded in order to build a global, decentralized network that allows its member societies to share data on copyright documentation for musical and audio/visual works, and to streamline internal operations.

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) was foundedin 1936 to protect the economic and creativerights of directors. Over the years its membershiphas expanded to include the directorial team - Unit
Production Managers, Assistant Directors, Technical
Coordinators, Associate Directors, Stage Managersand Production Associates. Today, through thecollective voice of more than 14,000 members, the
Guild seeks to protect the rights of directorial teams,to contend for their creative freedom and strengthentheir ability to develop meaningful and lifelongcareers in film, tape and digital media. The DGA isan international organization with over 700 membersliving outside the United States.

Founded in 1917, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is a trade associationrepresenting American music publishers. The NMPA’smandate is to protect and advance the interests ofmusic publishers and their songwriter partners inmatters relating to the domestic and global protectionof music copyrights.

SESAC, Inc. is a U.S. performing rights organization, designed to represent songwriters and publishers and their right to be compensated for having their music performed in public.
Founded in 1930, SESAC is the second oldest and fastest growing of the nation’s performing rights organizations and is headquartered in Nashville with additional offices in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami and London. SESAC covers the United States in virtually every genre of music with reciprocal agreements with over 80 foreign societies.
SESAC today stands as the clear technological leader among the nation’s performing rights organizations, utilizing cutting-edge technologies to provide accurate service on behalf of our affiliates successfully licensing music use across all platforms.
Artists who have performed SESAC-affiliated compositions include Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Reba McEntire, Pussycat Dolls, Nelly Furtado, U2, Christina Aguilera among many others.
SESAC also represents such musical icons as Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, RUSH, Cassandra Wilson, Bryan-Michael Cox, Nate “Danja” Hills and Swizz Beatz as well as many others.

VAGA, The Visual Artists and Galleries Association, is America’s leading collecting society for visual creators. As the first visual artists’ collective in the U.S., VAGA has over thirty years of experience managing artists’ rights through various licensing models and strategies with publishers, museums and other image users.

Through agreements with sister societies worldwide, VAGA is able to offer its members and the members of such societies the most efficient method of representation and protection in all territories for both primary and secondary rights.

VAGA’s core functions include:

• Collecting and distributing funds to rights holders for the use of their imagery.
• Pursuing and resolving copyright infringements.
• Developing innovative practices in copyright management.
• Educating rights holders and image users on copyright.
• Enhancing the strength of visual arts in the copyright community.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW)represents writers of motion pictures, television, radioand Internet programming in the US. Founded in
1933, the Guild negotiates and administers contractsthat protect the creative and economic rights ofits members. It is also involved in a wide range ofprograms that advance the interests of writers, and isactive in public policy and legislative matters on thelocal, national and international levels.