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American Federation of Musicians (AFM)

http://www.afm.org

In the mid-1800s musicians in the United States began exploring ways to improve their professional lives. They formed Mutual Aid Societies to provide members with loans, financial assistance during illness or extended unemployment and death benefits. A number of these organizations became early unions serving various constituencies, but problems arose between them due to competition. In 1896, delegates from these organizations gathered at the invitation of American Federation of Labor (AFL) President Samuel Gompers to organize and charter a musicians' trade union. A majority of the delegates voted to form the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), representing 3,000 musicians nationally. They resolved: "That any musician who receives pay for his musical services, shall be considered a professional musician." Within its first ten years, the AFM expanded to serve both the US and Canada, organized 424 Locals, and represented 45,000 musicians throughout North America.

Today, the AFM is the largest entertainment organization in the world with over 250 Local Unions throughout the United States and Canada.


American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)

http://www.aftra.com

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is a national labor union affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Its headquarters are in New York City and there are 36 local offices throughout the country. AFTRA represents its members in four major areas:

1) news and broadcasting; 2) entertainment programming; 3) the recording business; and, 4) commercials and non-broadcast, industrial, educational media.

AFTRA's 80,000 members are seen or heard on television, radio and sound recordings and include actors, announcers, news broadcasters, singers (including royalty artists and background singers), dancers, sportscasters, disc jockeys, talk show hosts and others. Talent payments under AFTRA contracts are over $1 billion a year.


The Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (AARC)

http://www.aarcroyalties.com

The Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (AARC) Is a non-profit organization formed to distribute Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) and foreign royalties to artists and record companies, and is the leading common agent representing them.


Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)

http://www.riaa.com

The Recording Industry Association of America is the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry. Their mission is to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' creative and financial vitality. RIAA® members are the record companies that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world. RIAA® members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States.


SoundExchange®

http://www.soundexchange.com/

SoundExchange is a nonprofit performance rights organization embodying hundreds of recording companies and thousands of artists established to license, collect and distribute public performance revenues for sound recording copyright owners (SRCOs) and artists for non interactive digital transmissions on cable, satellite and webcast services.

Prior to 1995, SRCOs in the United States did not have a performance right. The Digital Performance in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 changed that by granting a performance right in sound recordings.

SoundExchange is the principal administrator of the statutory licenses under Sections 112 and 114 of the Copyright Act. SoundExchange participates in each periodic rate making proceeding under the Section 112 and 114 licenses to establish rates that appropriately compensate copyright owners and performers for the exploitation of copyrighted sound recordings. Such rate setting proceedings may be resolved through arbitration proceedings (also known as CARPs) or through voluntary multi-party settlements. SoundExchange also participates in Copyright Office rulemakings to establish the terms governing how services operate under the two statutory licenses.

Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund®

http://www.fmsmf.org/

The Fund is an organization borne of a labor agreement which functions as an agent for producers, independent of the interests of labor and/or management, and as a not for profit simple trust.

The Theatrical and Television Motion Picture Special Payments Fund, renamed the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund ("the Fund") in 2003, was organized in 1972. The Fund is administered by a Fund Administrator.

The Fund was renamed the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund under the 2002-2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement to better reflect the true nature and function of the Fund and its services.

The Fund functions as an agent of the Producers and exists as an entity formed through a Collective Bargaining Agreement, whose terms are negotiated every three years, between the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) and the American Federation of Musicians (AFM).

The sole purpose of the Fund is to serve all those who are eligible to receive residual wage payments, including musicians who are participating members of the American Federation of Musicians, through its Local Unions.

Fund services include receiving employers' contributions remitted as required by the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the annual disbursement of these contributions to the participants. In addition, the Fund provides customer service for eligible participants, performs regular compliance reviews and actively pursues the collection of employer contributions for obligated films.


The AFM & AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund is a joint project of The American Federation of Musicians and The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Copyright ©2008 AFM and AFTRA Fund. All rights reserved.