Categories of works
For audiovisual authors
As a collective administrative organisation, LATGA represents more than 800 Lithuanian and hundreds of thousands of foreign authors of audiovisual works (directors, scriptwriters, dialogue writers, cinematographers, painters, authors of music specially composed for audiovisual works) and producers.
Stop frame of “Fanaberija. Įsijunk šviesą”. Director Laura Tamošiūnaitė-Šakalienė
2021 © Photo by Raimundas Adžgauskas.The film “Pieno baras”. Director Urtė Oettinger
2020 © Urtė Oettinger“Sugrįžę iš Niujorko”. Director Ramunė Rakauskaitė
© Jonas MekasBenefits of membership
By becoming a member, authors or producers of audiovisual (AV) works entrust us with the management of their economic rights. We collect royalties from the users of their works, represent them internationally and advise them on legal matters. Members can participate in the Association’s funding competitions and in the management of the organisation.
Remuneration for rebroadcasting. We collect royalties for authors and producers for the rebroadcast rights of their audiovisual works and recordings. LATGA collects these royalties from cable operators. The royalty is paid once a year for the previous year’s use.
Compensatory remuneration for private reproduction. For authors of AV works, we distribute and pay compensation for personal reproduction. For producers of AV works, we distribute the compensation paid by the responsible association. This remuneration, also known as the “Blank Media”, is collected from sellers of blank media and devices capable of recording audiovisual works, such as computers, mobile phones, USB sticks, and DVDs. It compensates for the permission to make a single copy of a work for personal use without the author’s authorisation from legal sources, as set out in the Lithuanian Law on Copyright and Related Rights. This compensation is also paid annually for the previous year.
Remuneration for publication of audiovisual works and recordings of audiovisual works or making them available to the public online (VOD (only for AV works, not recordings) and for the provision of online services complementary to rebroadcasting). We aim to collect these payments from VOD platforms and retransmitters.
Remuneration for the public display of audiovisual works and recordings in places of accommodation. We seek to collect remuneration from hotels and other places of accommodation.
Authors and producers of AV works are represented in foreign countries under a mutual representation agreement with foreign authors’ collective administration societies. Information about our members is published in the international author directory The Interested Parties Information System (IPI).
Association members are provided with free consultations of the association’s lawyers. Also, our lawyers have prepared a whole package of standard contracts. To get them, contact our specialists.
AV authors have the right to apply for partial funding of projects from the Creative Activity Fund.
The documents regulating the activities of the organization are approved once or twice a year at the General Meeting of Members (GMM), to which all members are invited. Also, our members have the right to participate in Council elections (both to put forward their candidacies and to vote), which are held every four years.
How to become a member
To become a member, your audiovisual works (feature films, documentaries, music and animation films, TV series) must be (have been) in the public domain.
We may already be looking for you to pay the royalties we have collected, so please check if you are on our list of authors/heirs.
To join, follow these 3 simple steps.
Step 1
Fill in the online application form and wait for our notification of the next steps.
Step 2
Pay a one-time joining fee of EUR 10 by transferring it to our account at SEB Bank LT71 7044 0600 0038 2455, indicating “joining fee” in the payment details.
Step 3
Sign the membership agreement sent by our specialist. Congratulations, you are now a member of LATGA!
Already a member in another artistic field?
If you are already a LATGA member in another artistic field and want to receive remuneration for the use of audiovisual works, please contact our experts!
For copyright heirs
If the author was a LATGA member, we will issue a certificate confirming that, according to Law on Copyright and Related Rights, the heir was the owner of the copyright in artistic and scientific works. This certificate allows notaries to issue an inheritance certificate, passing the author’s property rights to the heir.
If the author was not a member, we do not issue certificates Heirs must provide other documentation to the notary proving the deceased was the author. These can be contracts with publishing houses, museums, proof of membership of a particular creative union, the work itself (e.g. a book, a record) or an inventory of works drawn up by a bailiff.
Property rights last for 70 years after the author’s death.
Manage your works in Self-Service
- View royalty distribution reports
- See registered/unregistered works
- Submit work registrations for compensation/royalty distribution
For login assistance, contact us at +370 615 70168 or vilma@latga.lt.
LoginDocument forms and useful information
Frequently Asked Questions
We have made a film/show. How do I register it and get the rights? How much does it cost?
There is no official registration of works in Lithuania, because according to the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, copyright is acquired from the moment of creation of the work, not from a certain formality such as registration. We register works solely for royalty distribution purposes.
How do I protect the idea of the film, the script?
Ideas are not covered by copyright protection. In practice, we can only advise you to put a copy of the draft you have created in an envelope, send it to yourself by registered mail and keep it unopened. In the event of a dispute, this would be additional evidence – a record of the fact that you had such a project on that date. By the way, if you give your drafts to anyone, do so under signature.
I am a sound/editing director. Am I entitled to a collectively managed remuneration for the use of AV works?
The Lithuanian Law on Copyright and Related Rights states that the authors of an audiovisual work are: the director, the author of the script, the author of the dialogue, the artist, the cinematographer and the author of the music (with or without text) specially composed for the AV work. Unfortunately, as you can see, sound and editing directors are not among them, so they are not paid.
Who can register AV works?
The producer or any other member of the creative team who takes responsibility for the data submitted can register AV works.
How do I register audiovisual works?
You can register audiovisual (AV) works by logging in to your account in the joint LATGA/AGATA database www.lakdb.lt, we recommend this method as the work will be registered with two associations at once; here you will also be able to find the pre-populated registrations, which will need to be reviewed/corrected and submitted. Alternatively, an AV work can be registered by submitting a registration form for the AV work, which can be found in the documents section.
Are you the author of the work, or do you want to use the work?
Register for a free consultation
Register
Sign up for a consultation with a LATGA specialist and get all the answers.
If you can’t find the information you need on the website, we’ll answer any questions you may have during your consultation!