Collective administration of literary works

Reproduction rights organizations, which administer reproduction copyrights collectively, are one of the major implementation mechanisms for copyright law, on both a national and an international level. The operation of RROs is described, with examples from Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The International Federation of Reproduction Rights is discussed, and future plans for licensing databases are summarized. This article was adapted from a presentation to Latin American Copyright Specialists at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., May 1991, which was sponsored by the International Copyright Institute of the U.S. Copyright Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization.