Resumen de Germany: : New law for collecting societies
On 24 May 2016 the Verwertungsgesellschaftengesetz (Collecting Societies Act - VGG) was adopted. This act transposes Directive 2014/26/EU on collective management of copyright and related rights (see IRIS 2014-4/4) and replaces the previous Urheberrechtswahrnehmungsgesetz (Copyright Administration Act). The purpose of the new Act is to simplify the fixing of tariff rates, the EU-wide grant of usage rights and the participation in general meetings of members. The Bundestag commented in a resolution on the judgment of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice - BGH) of 21 April 2016 concerning the distribution to publishers of royalties collected by the collecting society VG Wort. The Bundestag declared such distribution unlawful and stated that publishers and authors should continue to have their rights managed in joint collecting societies.
