Frequently Asked Questions

Membership in LATGA is open to both natural and legal persons who are holders of one or more economic rights in one or more public domain works. Applications may be submitted by natural persons—authors or their heirs—whose membership falls within the scope of collective administration provided for by the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (LCRR); associations of copyright holders having the status of artists’ organisations, provided that the copyrights of the members of these associations are subject to collective administration in accordance with the LCRR; other natural or legal persons who, in the cases provided for in the LCRR, hold economic rights in musical works, such as publishers of musical works (who must carry out a steady publishing activity in order to optimise, from an artistic and economic point of view, the realisation of the musical works entrusted to them). Producers of audiovisual works can also become members.

By concluding a membership agreement with LATGA, the author entrusts the collection of royalties to LATGA. This means that you can no longer receive or waive royalties directly from users, and LATGA is the only entity authorised to collect royalties. Consequently, there are no exceptions, regardless of whether the author organises their own concert or this is done via a third party. It is worth noting that authors, performers, and promoters who manage all roles themselves do not lose anything by signing licensing agreements. In fact, when they do, their concert royalties are supplemented by additional compensation for the private reproduction of their works, known as the Blank Media Levy.

Yes, it is very useful for the author to provide us with information about where and which of their works have been performed, whether by themselves or by other performers. The organiser of an event is obliged to provide information on the works performed at the event by signing a licence agreement with LATGA, but there are cases where the organiser fails to do so or the programme is inaccurate. Also, not all event organisers approach us to sign a licence agreement as required by law, in which case the information you provide helps us to find the event organiser in question and collect the royalties for you. So in all cases, the information you provide on the use of the works is also useful for the authors themselves, as the royalties collected from public concerts and events are distributed only according to the programmes submitted.

Our licence is required if the album uses works by authors represented by LATGA who have transferred the reproduction right to the collecting society. The licence agreement with LATGA must be signed by the user of the works, who can be either a natural or a legal person. If a member of LATGA—an author—publishes an album containing works from the repertoire represented by LATGA, they become a user of the works and must contact our specialists to conclude a licence agreement.

The rates at which we collect royalties for authors vary widely. For a 1 minute broadcast/rebroadcast of a work, an author can receive between €0.007 and €15.

No, it does not. We only register the titles, duration and authors’ names in order to collect and distribute remuneration for the use of the works. We do not keep or store recordings of the works themselves, either in physical or digital media, nor do we collect or store sheet music manuscripts.

According to the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, copyright is created from the moment the work is created, so you do not need to register your work anywhere. Product designs and trademarks are registered with the State Patent Office.

When you publish your work, there is always a risk that someone will use it without permission. In copyright disputes, it is useful to have proof that you created the work in the first place: a copy of the publication in which your work was published, with you as the author. Before entering a tender or proposing your draft to a client, send a photograph of your work/draft to yourself by registered mail and keep the envelope unopened. This will be proof of the date of creation of the work. If you are entering tenders, please submit your work/draft against signature only. Always indicate your authorship and © mark when publishing your work.

It is important what rights you are granting or transferring and for how long. We recommend that rights are granted rather than transferred. Do not list all the rights in the law, but only grant the rights that the user of the works needs. For each right granted, the author should be paid a royalty. If you are a member of LATGA, please send us the contract before you sign it. The membership agreement obliges you not to transfer to others the rights you have entrusted to us for management.

Such use is subject to the author’s economic and moral rights and requires the author’s permission. When the author’s economic rights are no longer valid (70 years after the author’s death), the use of the work may be made, but without prejudice to the author’s moral rights (authorship, the right to the author’s name and the right to the integrity of the work). In the absence of the author’s heirs and after the expiry of the author’s economic rights, the protection of the author’s moral rights is the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture.

LATGA transfers royalties to you on which you have already paid taxes to the State, except for royalties received from abroad.

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.

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.

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.

The producer or any other member of the creative team who takes responsibility for the data submitted can register AV 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.

Royalties for the public performance of plays and musical plays shall be calculated on the proceeds of ticket sales, applying the established royalty rates for authors of plays and musical plays.

By becoming a member of LATGA, the author transfers the administration of the economic rights of public performance and publication. This means that the author must inform the client when concluding the contract that the public performance rights are administered by LATGA and that the client must contact us for the grant of the economic rights.

A LATGA member may waive royalties only for a specific non-commercial event. At least 30 days before the start of the exploitation of the work(s) or object(s) of related rights, an application in the prescribed form must be filled in for a single licence to use the work(s) or object(s) of related rights for non-commercial purposes.

The author is entitled to royalties for every use of the work, including public performance. The director, the set designer and the costume designer are entitled to royalties for the public performance on stage when this is provided for in the contract with the client.

Once you become a member of LATGA, royalties for the public performance and publication of works are calculated only from the date of membership.

When collecting remuneration from various music users, we also receive information about the use of poetry or prose works on radio/TV. In this case, we try to find the authors/translators of the works in question and pay them a fee. If they cannot be found, we add them to the list of music/song lyricists we are looking for and wait for a response so that we can pay them a fee.

Authors wishing to receive compensation for the use of books in libraries must submit application forms to LATGA by 31 December. The application forms must be completed only once. There is no need to reapply.

Yes, the compensation for the use of books in libraries is only paid for one previous year, after the application forms have been submitted.

The Ministry of Culture allocates the amount for the payment of the compensation annually. The amount of the compensation paid to each author depends on the number of times readers take books registered with LATGA for use in libraries.

No, filling in the application form for the use of books in libraries does not make you a member of LATGA.

Membership in LATGA is open to both natural and legal persons who are holders of one or more economic rights in one or more public domain works. Applications may be submitted by natural persons—authors or their heirs—whose membership falls within the scope of collective administration provided for by the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (LCRR); associations of copyright holders having the status of artists’ organisations, provided that the copyrights of the members of these associations are subject to collective administration in accordance with the LCRR; other natural or legal persons who, in the cases provided for in the LCRR, hold economic rights in musical works, such as publishers of musical works (who must carry out a steady publishing activity in order to optimise, from an artistic and economic point of view, the realisation of the musical works entrusted to them). Producers of audiovisual works can also become members.

No. LATGA is a non-state, non-profit organisation that manages the rights of its members—authors in various fields—and collects remuneration for the use of their works. It is governed by a Council elected every four years by its members at the General Meeting. LATGA operates according to the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, EU legislation, international treaties, and other legal acts and the Association’s Articles.

If you joined LATGA as a music composer and start writing music for plays, you do not need to sign a new contract or pay another membership fee. You just need to fill out an addendum to your membership agreement specifying the new economic rights you want LATGA to manage. You should contact the specialists of the specific department you wish to become a member of for the addendum to your membership agreement.

Yes, LATGA collects royalties for foreign authors based on cooperation agreements with many authors worldwide. These royalties are sent to foreign authors’ societies for distribution. LATGA currently collaborates with 155 foreign collecting societies from 70 countries.

Companies and institutions providing paid copying services and sellers of reprographic devices (multifunction copiers, printers, scanners) who are the first sellers of these devices in Lithuania must pay the compensation fee for the reproduction of works by reprographic means for private purposes.

LATGA does not register the actual video, audio, or video recordings of the works. Instead, it registers only the names of the works and their rights holders for its members. We only register the works of LATGA members and the responsibility for the registration of the works lies with the member. Importantly, the creation of copyright in the work itself is not dependent on the registration of the work. Copyright in a work arises from the moment of creation of the work.

Operators providing paid copying services must submit declarations by January 15 each year. Sellers of reprographic equipment must report sales either quarterly or monthly.

Multifunction copiers are devices capable of copying, printing, and scanning artwork.

A multifunction copier includes all the functions for reprographic reproduction of a work, such as copying, printing, and scanning. A photocopier copies from paper to paper, while a printer is a computer device that prints information from the computer onto paper.

In addition to individuals who have purchased reprographic devices for professional use or those with disabilities, companies that export these devices from Lithuania can also recover compensation.

A LATGA licence is required when you use copyright works publicly, such as in a café, bar, shopping centre, or at a public event, and not for personal occasions like weddings, birthday parties, or funerals.  You need to enter into a licence agreement with us for the public performance of the works in the following cases: a) If you are organising an event or concert where the musical works will be performed publicly; b) If you are opening a café, restaurant, bar, hotel, sports club, shop, or any other public establishment where musical works will be used.

The price of a license issued by LATGA depends on various factors, including the nature of the use of the works (live public performance or background music), the purposes of the use (paid event or free event), the location where they are used (café, shop, sports club), and other factors. The royalty rates are approved by the LATGA Council based on proposals submitted by the Association.

License monies, which are royalties collected for the rights granted to users to exploit works in their activities, are distributed and paid to LATGA’s members and the foreign authors it represents.

We distribute the remuneration collected for broadcasting and retransmission to authors based on the programmes provided by television and radio stations. Event organisers are legally required to send their programmes. Meanwhile, commercial and service undertakings using music in their business do not have this obligation. Therefore, we distribute the royalties collected from them to the authors of music based on the programmes sent by radio and TV stations. For more information, see our Distribution Rules.

LATGA and AGATA represent different interests. LATGA represents authors, while AGATA represents performers and phonogram producers. When using music in business, you need agreements with both the association representing the rights of authors (LATGA) and the association representing the rights of related rights holders (performers and phonogram producers, represented by AGATA). Put simply, a musical work is legally used when you have permissions from both the author and the performer and publisher.  These permissions (licenses) are granted by LATGA and AGATA. For information on AGATA licenses, visit www.agata.lt or www.leidziam.lt.

When you purchase a digital copy of a work from an archive, museum, or photo bank, you are paying for the physical image of the work, not for the right to reproduce, publish, or distribute it. Yes, you must pay royalties for the right to reproduce, publish, and distribute the work.

No. Ownership of a work does not grant you rights to use it. If the owner did not enter into an assignment or transfer agreement with the author when purchasing the work, they can only use the work for private purposes. The owner cannot grant third parties rights in the work that they do not possess themselves.

LATGA is a collecting society that belongs to CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers. According to cooperation agreements with foreign author societies, the license for using the work must be obtained in the territory where the work will be used, regardless of the author’s country of residence.

We have photographs in our editorial archive that we use in the magazine. Are we correct in stating that it is a “photo from the editorial archive”?

When you buy a work of art, you acquire the tangible object but not the intellectual property rights, including the author’s economic or moral rights. You can enjoy the artwork for personal purposes, such as displaying it in your home or using it for interior decoration. However, you cannot reproduce it or post pictures of it online without the author’s permission.

Whether or not a producer is a member of a collecting society, they manage their fundamental rights individually. No matter how famous the film director is, it is not the director nor the collecting society representing them that you should look for, but rather the specific producer/distributor of the film. For example, if you want to use the film “Laiko Tiltai” by the renowned director Audrius Stonys, you should contact their production company, Ultra Nominum, instead of the director or the association representing their rights. Similarly, to use Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty”, reach out to the production company, Indigo Film, rather than the director or LATGA, the association representing their rights in Lithuania. We recommend that you always start with the authorised producers or distributors, as they may restrict certain films from being screened for various reasons (e.g., the exclusive cinema screening period might not have expired yet).

You can easily use internet search engines to find information about producers or distributors of a film. Please note that the property rights of films produced in the Lithuanian Film Studio between 1940 and 2004 belong to the Lithuanian Film Centre. You can find foreign film producers at www.imdb.com or by using a Google search. LATGA can also provide information on the producer if the film is registered in an international database of audiovisual works accessible only to international collecting societies, but this will only be the name of the producing company (without contact details).

Films posted on film websites or DVDs on sale are intended for private viewing (the cover of the DVD is usually labelled “Home Video”). For public screenings, you must obtain permission from the rights holders (usually the producer of the film).

Regardless of where you are going to take the work from (which “drawer”), what matters is how you are going to use it. If you intend to publicly display a work you have created that uses an excerpt (music, footage) from a previously created work, you must get permission from the rights holder of the work found on the internet or in the archive.

Unfortunately, this is just a common myth. The length of the work you want to use is irrelevant, and the consent of the rights holders is required.

The user of the works must obtain permissions from the Lithuanian authors whose works will be used for the performance. If the author’s property rights are represented by LATGA, once permission has been obtained from the author, the author must apply to LATGA for a grant of property rights.

LATGA represents a large number of authors from Europe and other countries within Lithuania on the basis of mutual cooperation with copyright societies of other countries, so if you want to stage a work by a foreign author, first of all, you should contact the Head of the LATGA Plays, Evelina Brusokaitė at evelina@latga.lt, stating the author’s name and the title of the work in your e-mail. After a search in the global catalogue, we will inform you whether the Association can mediate and represent the author in the use of the work you want.

Royalties for the public performance of plays and musical plays shall be calculated on the proceeds of ticket sales, applying the established royalty rates for authors of plays and musical plays.

Article 22 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Copyright and Related Rights provides that, without the permission of the author or of any other copyright holder of the work, and without payment of royalties, but with acknowledgement of the source and the author’s name where possible, it is permissible to reproduce, publish and publicly display, as an example, for non-commercial purposes, works created for the purpose of assessing the learning achievements of pupils, as long as it is related to the teaching and teacher training programmes and does not exceed the scope of what is necessary for the teaching or the training of the teachers.

It is compulsory to mention all authors whose works are used in the production in the promotional material for the performance. If a translated work by a foreign author is used, the translator must also be mentioned.