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It has been mentioned that the creator of a work has the right to allow or to prohibit the use of his works; a playwright can consent to his work being performed on stage under certain agreed conditions; a writer can negotiate a contract with a publisher for the publication and distribution of a book; and a composer or a musician can agree to have his music or performance recorded on compact disc. These examples illustrate how the owners of the rights can exercise their rights in person.

Other cases show that individual management of rights is virtually impossible with regard to certain types of use for practical reasons. An author is not materially capable of monitoring all uses of his works; he cannot for instance contact every single radio or television station to negotiate licenses and remuneration for the use of his works. Conversely, it is not practical for a broadcasting organization to seek specific permission from every author for the use of every copyrighted work. An average of 60′000 musical works are broadcast on television every year, so thousands of owners of rights would have to be approached for authorization. The very impracticability of managing these activities individually, both for the owner of rights and for the user, creates a need for collective management organizations, whose role is to bridge the gap between them in these key areas, among others.

Collective management is the exercise of copyright and related rights by organizations acting in the interest and on behalf of the owners of rights.

Today, there are various kinds of collective management organization or groups of such organizations, depending on the category of works involved (music, dramatic works, “multimedia” productions, etc.) that will collectively manage different kinds of right.

What may be called “Traditional” collective management organizations, act on behalf of their members, negotiate rates and terms of use with users, issue licenses authorizing uses, collect and distribute royalties. The individual owner of rights does not become directly involved in any of these steps.
Other organizations such as Rights clearance centers grant licenses to users that reflect the conditions for the use of works and the remuneration terms set by each individual holder of rights who is a member of the center. The “center” acts as an agent for the owner of the rights who remains directly involved in setting the terms of use of his works.

There’s also “One-stop-shops” or “coalition of separate collective management organizations” which offer users a centralized sources to get authorizations. This type of Collective Management organization is becoming more common as “Multimedia” productions composed of several types of work including computer software require a variety of authorizations.

Collective management organizations (CMOs) administer the remuneration. In the special case of reproduction for private and personal use, some national legislation contains specific provision for equitable remuneration payable to the owners of rights and funded by a levy imposed on equipment or photocopies or both.