Reforms in copyright management in Argentina
Intellectual Property Report | Reforms in copyright management in Argentina
On February 27 and 28, 2025, the Executive Branch of Argentina published Decrees 138/2025 (available only in Spanish here) and 143/2025 (available only in Spanish here) in the Official Gazette, respectively. Subsequently, on March 5, 2025, Decree 150/2025 (available only in Spanish here) was published. These decrees introduce significant reforms in the management of copyright and related rights in Argentina, allowing authors to manage their rights individually or through collective management societies.
Decree 138/2025
Section 1 of Decree 138/2025 establishes that copyright and related rights holders can manage their rights without mandatory intermediation. In order to do so, it modifies Section 32 of Decree 41.223/1934 Regulatory of Law No. 11.723 on Intellectual Property, allowing holders to associate with one or more collective management societies of copyright and related rights (the “Collective Management Societies“) or exercise their rights individually.
Regarding the Collective Management Societies, this decree introduces changes in their constitution and operation, including the following:
-Section 2 establishes that they must be constituted as civil associations and have authorization from the National Copyright Directorate (the “DNDA“).
-Section 4 establishes that they cannot intervene when the represented parties opt to manage their rights individually or agree on direct collections. Additionally, they must accept private agreements from the represented parties and thus these cannot be opposed.
-According to Section 5, the collections not claimed by the corresponding rights holders within their statute of limitations must be distributed among the other represented right holders. This article also allows the celebration of collection agreements with foreign entities, in addition to the possibility for right holders to enter into bilateral agreements.
-Through Section 13, a control procedure is implemented by the DNDA to detect and resolve regulatory infringements.
Decree 138/2025 also establishes guidelines on the fees collected by copyright and related rights holders. Section 7 of this decree establishes that fees must be agreed upon with the Collective Management Societies under criteria of equitable and proportional distribution to the use of the works, performances, or productions. For the fee determination, Section 9 defines five criteria:
-The time, extent, and actual use of copyright and related rights within the economic activity;
-The type of activity and the user’s category;
-The monetary benefit obtained by users of that category in the exploitation of the repertoire;
-The fees agreed upon with similar activities; and
-The impact of the accumulated fees of the different Collective Management Societies on the cost structure of the activity.
Notwithstanding, Article 10 also establishes that the Ministry of Justice may establish mechanisms for fee determination, as well as mechanisms for mediation and resolution of disputes between users or sectoral chambers and the Collective Management Societies. To such extent, it is clarified that the maximum caps established by resolution of the enforcement authority for each category will be maintained.
It is also noteworthy that Article 8 prohibits the closure of establishments due to a lack of agreement on fee determination.
Decree 138/2025 concludes by establishing that the Collective Management Societies will have one hundred and eighty (180) days from the decree’s entry into force to adapt their bylaws and regulations to the introduced modifications, with two exceptions:
-The General Society of Authors of Argentina (Argentores) of Reciprocal Protection is not subject to this period nor to the provisions of Sections 1, 2, 4, 5, and 13; and
-The Argentine Society of Authors and Composers of Music (SADAIC) is also not subject to the adaptation period.
Decree 143/2025
In line with the provisions of Decree 138/2025, Decree 143/2025 introduced additional modifications in the field of intellectual property rights for authors, directors, and performers of audiovisual works, as well as for producers and performers of phonograms. Particularly, and concerning the aforementioned subjects, this decree allows the coexistence of multiple Collective Management Societies and recognizes the rights holders’ ability to manage their works individually or through private agreements.
To this end, Decrees 1671/1974, 1914/2006, and 124/2009, which had recognized the exclusive or preferential representation to various Collective Management Societies, are modified to revoke such capacity.
In line with this, criteria and procedures for the determination, collection, and distribution of fees for the use of works are incorporated, which must observe the provisions on fees set forth by Decree 138/2025 mentioned above, in addition to the particular agreements entered into by the copyright and related rights holders and those caps set by the Ministry of Justice.
Decree 143/2025 also covers reciprocal agreements between national and foreign Collective Management Societies. In the same sense as Decree 138/2025 mentioned above, Decree 143/2025 grants the Collective Management Societies a period of one hundred and eighty (180) days from its entry into force to adjust their bylaws and regulations to the modifications it incorporates.
Decree 150/2025
Following the changes introduced by Decrees 138/2025 and 143/2025, Decree 150/2025 regulates the collective management of the economic rights of authors and composers of music in Argentina, modifying Decree 5146/1969 which granted SADAIC the exclusive collection of those rights.
Among the most relevant changes, Decree 150/2025 establishes that SADAIC can only exercise the collective management of the rights of those holders who have granted it a mandate, and that it cannot intervene without the authorization of the author and/or composer in the celebration of particular agreements between them and the users who intend to use their productions.
Regarding fees, it is provided, among several aspects, that they must be agreed upon in accordance with the provisions of Decree 138/2025, while in terms of audits, it is established that the Ministry of Justice will be responsible for determining, in addition to the appointment of an auditor, its competencies and attributions.
Decree 150/2025 also introduces modifications to the regime of membership categories. From this decree, it is established that categories of members can be set forth without making distinctions, privileges, or differences between them for the purposes of administration, collection, and distribution of their economic rights, nor in the right to vote.
Regarding the Board of Directors of SADAIC, the requirements for its integration are modified, among which it stands out that the distribution and election methods must be established by the Statute of SADAIC.
Finally, concerning the distribution of the amounts arising from the economic rights collected, the modifications introduced by Decree 150/2025 establish that the provisions of Decree 138/2025 must be observed both for distribution by users and by sheet and for the total or partial lack of sheets or in case of rejection of the latter due to irregularities.
Decree 150/2025 grants SADAIC a period of one hundred and eighty (180) days from its entry into force for the adaptation of its Statute to the aforementioned modifications.
It should be noted that for Decrees 138/2025, 143/2025, and 150/2025, it is established that their entry into force will be the day after their publication in the Official Gazette.
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