Freedom of establishment, freedom to provide services, and freedom of movement all apply to workers in the European Union. EU citizens therefore have free market access in other EU countries. This means that they can participate in economic life in the same way as nationals and are not placed at a disadvantage compared to them. They therefore have the same rights in terms of access to the labour market and working conditions. 

As the European Union established the European Economic Area (EEA) with Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, people from these countries are treated equally to EU citizens and also have free market access. The same applies to people from Switzerland. 

EU/EEA citizens and Swiss nationals are therefore entitled to the same conditions as Austrian nationals. These include

• founding a company,
• offering services,
• working independently,
• studying or attending school,
• staying for a certain period to look for a job,
• staying in the country for a certain period after leaving self-employment or employment,
• employers posting their employees for a certain period, provided they comply with the labour and social regulations of the host country, and
• self-employed persons seconding themselves for a certain period. 

Depending on how long you want to stay and work in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you must fulfil certain requirements.

If you want to stay in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland for up to three months, you only need a valid identity card or passport.

You have free access to any gainful employment.

If you want to stay in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland for more than 3 months, you still only need a valid identity card or passport. 

However, all EU/EEA member states and Switzerland are entitled to require registration. Whether and how you must register your stay in your host country depends on the respective country’s regulations. 

You can find out about Austria’s regulations in the chapter on Residence in Austria for EU/EEA and Swiss nationals.

As a basis, you must fulfil the same requirements for all residence permits:

• You need to prove you have a secure livelihood. This means that your financial resources must be sufficient to finance your lifestyle.
• You must have accommodation.
• You must have health insurance coverage.

There must be no threat to public order or security.You must submit the following documents when applying for your residence permit: 

• Completed application
• Valid passport
• Birth certificate or corresponding document
• For first-time applications: extract from the criminal record
• Current passport photo (not older than 6 months; format: 45x35mm)
• If applicable: marriage certificate, partnership certificate, certificate of adoption, certificate of divorce, deed of dissolution of the registered partnership, death certificate
• Proof of a secure livelihood
• (mostly) Proof of locally customary accommodation
• Proof of health insurance coverage

Freedom of establishment, freedom to provide services, and freedom of movement for workers apply within the European Union. Through treaties, these freedoms also apply to countries in the EEA and Switzerland. All EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens are therefore allowed to live and work in other EU/EEA countries and Switzerland, regardless of whether they are self-employed or employed. They therefore have free access to the market and to work, and are free

• to look for work;
• to settle in the country concerned for this purpose;
• to remain there after termination of their employment relationship;
• to offer cross-border services;
• to found a company;
• as an entrepreneur: to post workers.

EU/EEA citizens and Swiss nationals must be treated in Austria in the same way as Austrian nationals with regard to employment and working conditions. However, they are only fully on an equal footing, including with regard to social benefits and tax advantages, after five years of legal residence in Austria.

Example: You are a self-employed dancer from Austria and would like to work on a freelance basis for two months at an opera house in Lisbon. You do not need to apply for a residence or work permit for this. You can work in Lisbon as if you had Portuguese citizenship. 

Example: You are an Austrian gallery owner and would like to settle in Brussels and open a gallery there. All you have to do is register your business in accordance with Belgian law and comply with the relevant local formalities. As an EU citizen, you do not need a work or residence permit. 

If you are an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen and would like to stay and work in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland for up to three months, you only need a valid identity card or passport.

If you want to stay for more than three months, EU/EEA countries are free to require you to register. This is often linked to certain requirements. Typically, you must fulfil one of the following requirements for your registration certificate (using Austria as an example):

• You are self-employed or an employee;
• You have health insurance and can prove that you have sufficient financial resources (for yourself and your dependants) to avoid having to make use of state social assistance benefits;
• You are looking for a job;
• You are completing an apprenticeship or internship, are covered by health insurance, and have sufficient financial resources (see point 2).

The exact requirements you need to fulfil depend on the country in question. Find out more on the websites of the respective ministries of the interior or foreign affairs of your destination country. 

The national social security systems of the EU/EEA member states and Switzerland work together in several fields of insurance. These include:

• Illness & accident
• Parenthood
• Pension and death
• Unemployment 

Attention: The member states do not cooperate on welfare benefits (in Austria: minimum income benefits) and sickness benefits in the event of particularly long periods of incapacity to work. 

In those areas where social security systems have been coordinated, basic principles guaranteeing cross-border social security coverage apply within the EU/EEA and Switzerland, regardless of why or how long you are staying:

• You have the same access to insurance benefits as citizens of the country in which you are insured. You must not be discriminated against.
• Your periods of insurance, residence, and employment are mutually recognised and added together by all countries within the EU/EEA and Switzerland.
  • This is important because in most countries you typically have to have been covered by social security for at least a certain period of time in order to receive insurance benefits.
  • If you would like to receive insurance benefits in a country and you have to fulfil minimum insurance periods to do so, these will also be taken into account if you have acquired them in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland.
• You are insured in the country in which you work. This also applies if you live in one member state and work in another or if the registered office of your employer(s) is in another member state (exception: secondments, see subchapter).
• You are only ever subject to the legislation of one member state.This also applies if you work in several countries. 

Attention: There is an exception to the basic rule that you are always insured where you work. If your employer posts you temporarily to another EU/EEA country or to Switzerland, you remain insured in the country where you are posted. See the next subchapter.

It is important to be aware that each country has different laws regarding the type, scope, and purchase of insurance benefits. You should therefore find out about the scope of benefits and insurance requirements in your destination country.

Attention: If you have worked in a third country—regardless of your nationality—the insurance periods you acquired there will only be recognised in another country if there is an agreement on the recognition of foreign insurance periods between the third country and that country.

Certain basic rules apply to the entitlement to cross-border insurance benefits, which are presented in the following sections. 

If you are insured in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland and receive medical benefits there, these will be settled by your local social security provider.   

However, if you seek medical treatment in a country within the EU/EEA or Switzerland and are not insured in this country, it is possible to receive treatment upon presentation of your European Health Insurance Card (e-card). 

You must present this card when you visit the doctor and, in most cases, you need to fill out special forms. In doing so, you can claim medical benefits according to the same conditions as people who are insured in that country. This applies to short-term and long-term employment relationships in other European countries. 

Attention: Binding information on health insurance coverage abroad must be obtained from the relevant health insurance provider.

In many member states, you must initially pay at least part of the costs yourself. You can then submit these invoices to your social security provider. The amount of money you get back varies from member state to member state: the tariffs for medical treatment and the scope of benefits provided by social security systems vary greatly. Treatments that are free in your country may have to be paid for in other countries. 

Attention: If you are a frontier worker, you should complete the S1 form in advance and submit it to your social security provider.

The requirements for claiming pension benefits in an EEA/EU country or Switzerland depend on the respective national regulations (e.g. retirement age).

In order to claim pension benefits in a country, you must typically have been insured for a certain minimum period in that country. As the different insurance systems of the EU/EEA countries and Switzerland work together, they mutually recognise insurance periods that you have acquired in other EU/EEA countries or Switzerland. 

Example: In Germany, you must have been insured for at least 5 years to be entitled to an old-age pension. Although you only worked in Germany for 3 years, you worked in France for 20 years. As your French insurance period is recognised in Germany, you were insured for a total of 25 years from the perspective of your German insurance provider. You have therefore fulfilled the minimum insurance period of 5 years in Germany and will receive an old-age pension from the German social security provider if you meet all the other requirements according to German law.

If you have worked in several countries and fulfilled the requirements applicable there, you will receive several pensions. The amount you will receive from each pension depends on the pension regulations in the respective country. 

To do: Due to the cooperation of social security systems, you only need to submit a single pension application. You submit this in your country of residence. 

In order to receive unemployment benefits, you must have been insured for unemployment for a certain minimum period in most countries. Here too, EU/EEA countries and Switzerland recognise each other's insurance periods.

The length of your insurance periods and the additional requirements you must meet depend on the regulations of the country in which you wish to receive unemployment benefits.

You can find out about the requirements in Austria in the chapter on unemployment in Austria. 

If you are already receiving unemployment benefits in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you must generally also stay in this country. The reason for this is that you should be ready to start a new job that the unemployment office finds for you at any time. 

However, if you can prove that you have a realistic chance of finding work in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you may stay abroad for a maximum of three months without losing your entitlement to benefits. At your request, the authority paying the unemployment benefits may extend your entitlement for a further 3 months.

To do: Contact the authority that pays your unemployment benefits and submit the U2 form. 

One question that immediately arises when you work internationally relates to the countries in which you are liable for tax (i.e. have to pay tax). 

How do you know where you are liable for tax? 

Each country has its own regulations. Depending on the country, your tax liability typically depends on the following factors:

• Whether you are self-employed or employed in that country and what your level of income is;
• Whether your main place of residence is in that country;
• Your nationality: according to the laws of some countries, citizens must pay tax on their income in their home country, even though they neither work nor live there.

In Austria, a distinction is made between unlimited and limited tax liability:

• Unlimited tax liability means that Austria may tax a person's entire worldwide income. Most countries have regulations according to which a person's country of residence has the right to tax their entire worldwide income. The person is said to be "resident for tax purposes" in that country.
• Limited tax liability generally applies to people who are not resident in Austria. Their obligation to pay income tax is limited to specific income that is associated with Austria.

If you work and live in different countries, two or more countries may theoretically be entitled to tax your income. Many countries have concluded double taxation agreements so that gainfully employed individuals do not have to pay tax on their income twice. See the chapter on tax liability in multiple countries.

To do: If you are working across borders, you should find out about the tax regulations in all of the countries you work in and, if necessary, seek advice from a tax consultant. 

The following chapters will give you an overview on tax liability in

• Austria, and
• multiple countries.

In Austria, as in many other countries, a distinction is made between unlimited and limited tax liability:

• If you have unlimited tax liability in Austria, then Austria may tax your entire income earned worldwide.
• If you are subject to limited tax liability in Austria, then Austria may (only) tax your income earned in Austria in certain circumstances. 

In the following subchapters, you will find out at what point you become subject to unlimited or limited tax liability in Austria.

If you are self-employed in Austria, you are either subject to unlimited or limited tax liability. 

Info: In Austria, nationality does not play a role in tax liability.

You are subject to unlimited tax liability if you are resident or ordinarily resident in Austria. Your habitual residence is considered to be in Austria if you stay there for more than six months/183 days a year. 

If you have unlimited tax liability, Austria generally has the right to tax your entire worldwide income. Above a certain level of income, you must file an income tax return. On the basis of this declaration, the tax office determines how much profit you made from your self-employed activity in the respective tax year and taxes this profit. See the subchapter on income tax.

You are subject to limited tax liability if you are self-employed in Austria but do not have a residence or habitual abode there. If you are subject to limited tax liability, Austria may tax the self-employed income you receive in Austria under certain conditions. See the subchapter on foreigner’s withholding tax.

Attention: If you work across borders, you must check whether Austria and the country in which you are resident for tax purposes have concluded a double taxation agreement. This regulates which country has the right to tax certain income. See the subchapter on tax liability in multiple countries.

If you are not self-employed in Austria—i.e. you have an employment contract—you are either subject to unlimited or limited tax liability.

Info: In Austria, nationality does not play a role in tax liability.

You are subject to unlimited tax liability if you are resident or ordinarily resident in Austria. You habitual residence is considered to be in Austria if you are not only staying there temporarily (e.g. on holiday or business trips), but for a longer period. If you stay for more than six months/183 days per year, Austria is assumed to be your habitual residence. People who do not have a place of residence in Austria therefore require an employment contract lasting at least six months or at least a six-month residence and work permit in order to establish their habitual residence in Austria. In these cases, unlimited tax liability applies retroactively, i.e. all income earned from the start of residence is subject to unlimited tax liability in Austria.

Info: See the chapter on visas & residence to find out whether you need a residence and work permit.

You are subject to limited tax liability if you are employed in Austria or receive other non-self-employed income such as a pension, even if are not resident or ordinarily resident in Austria. 

If you have limited tax liability, Austria can, under certain conditions, tax your income derived from employment in Austria. See the chapter on tax liability in multiple countries. 

Info: If you work as an employed artist on a cross-border basis, your income will be taxed in the country in which you carried out your work in accordance with most double taxation agreements. This also applies if your fee is not paid straight into your bank account, but is transferred to an artists’ agency, for example. 

For the specific calculation and amount of tax payable for unlimited and limited taxpayers, see the subchapter on the taxation of employed people’s income.

As each country has its own rules on tax liability, you may be liable to pay tax in multiple countries if you work in more than one country. This means that both your country of residence and the countries in which you work may want to tax certain income simultaneously and therefore twice.

Example: Your habitual residence is in Germany. You work at a museum in the Netherlands. You also work as a writer in Germany and earn self-employed income from the sale of your books. As your country of residence, Germany has the right to tax your entire income—including that from the Netherlands. 
As you work full-time in the Netherlands, they may also have the right to tax the salary you receive there. Theoretically, your Dutch salary would be taxed in both countries. To prevent this, the Netherlands and Germany have concluded a double taxation agreement. 

In order to prevent double taxation of income, some countries have concluded double taxation agreements (DTAs). Such agreements govern which of the two countries may tax income earned in cross-border situations and which country may waive taxation in whole or in part. Double taxation agreements are designed to ensure that you only pay tax on your income once.

Example: You are an artist and the owner of one apartment in Berlin and one in Vienna. You work in both countries, although your children live in Berlin and go to school there. Under German law, you have unlimited tax liability in Germany because you have a place of residence and your children live there, i.e. this is your habitual residence. Under Austrian law, you are also subject to unlimited tax liability in Austria. To avoid having to pay tax on your income twice, Austria and Germany have concluded a double taxation agreement. It states: "The person is only deemed to be resident in the country in which they have a permanent home; if they have a permanent home in both countries, they are only deemed to be resident in the country with which they have the closest personal and economic ties (centre of vital interests)." Since you have a home and work in both countries, but your children live in Germany, you are only subject to unlimited tax liability in Germany. You are therefore only considered a tax resident in Germany. In Austria, you are only subject to "limited tax liability" on certain income that is earned there. Austrian law and the double taxation agreements contain detailed regulations on this, which are explained below.

To do: We recommend that you consult a tax advisor to clarify which country you are subject to unlimited tax liability in. 

Austria has concluded double taxation agreements with many countries. Click on the following link to see the list of Austrian double taxation agreements. 

Each country has its own laws governing contracts. If you work internationally as an artist or cultural worker, you will often conclude cross-border contracts. This means that you and your contractual partner are based in different countries and are therefore familiar with different legal regulations. In the following sections, you will find out what you should bear in mind when concluding a cross-border contract.

 

Info: The following sections are merely an overview and are not a substitute for legal advice in specific individual cases. 

The law of a specific country always applies to a contract. You should therefore always check which law applies to the specific contract before concluding it. In most cases, there is a free choice of law. This means that you and your contractual partner can choose which law should apply to your contract. The following choice is usually made:

• In most cases, the parties choose the law of the country in which the contract is concluded.

• The parties choose the law of the country that one of the contracting parties is based in.

Attention: As the regulations on contract law can vary greatly from country to country, you should familiarise yourself with the basic contract law regulations of the respective country and seek legal advice before making your choice of law.

In certain cases, the law of a particular country may be mandatory for a specific contract due to international agreements or European Union regulations, and a choice of law may therefore be rendered invalid. Contracts between traders and consumers or employees and employers are governed by European Union and European Economic Area regulations, which are intended to guarantee consumer protection: any choice of law must not result in consumers or employees being deprived of the fundamental legal protection of their place of residence. 

The place of jurisdiction is the court before which you and your contractual partner would be brought in the event of a legal dispute. This is based on the civil procedure regulations of the legal system applicable to your contract. 

Instead, however, you can stipulate which courts will hear any future legal disputes in your contract. This is called a jurisdiction agreement. In many cases, you can freely agree which court should have jurisdiction. 

Attention: Please note that there may be restrictions on your choice of jurisdiction. Depending on which national law is applicable to your contract, you must check the admissibility of jurisdiction agreements. For example, under the law of the member states of the European Union/European Economic Area, jurisdiction agreements between traders and consumers or employers and employees are only permitted to a limited extent. 

Unlike many other areas of law, contract law is not standardised within the European Union and the European Economic Area. This means that each member state has its own legal regulations, which cover, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• How is a contract concluded? Are there any formal requirements?

• What is the minimum content of a specific contract?

• What happens if one of the contracting parties is unable to fulfil the contract?

One of the most important questions in contract law concerns the applicable law. The European Union has issued the Rome I Regulation on this matter, which applies in all member states of the European Union/European Economic Area. In principle, contracting parties can choose for themselves which law applies to their contract. If the parties have not made a choice, the type of contract determines the rules in the European Union/European Economic Area. 

Info: Although there is no standardised contract law within the European Union and the European Economic Area, there are standardised regulations around consumer protection. When entrepreneurs—such as self-employed artists—conclude contracts with consumers, certain mandatory protection rules apply in favour of consumers (e.g. if consumers within the EU or the EEA buy an item on the internet, they can withdraw from the contract within a certain period of time without giving reasons).

The following section gives you an overview of the consequences of your choice of law and how the applicable law is determined in the absence of a choice of law.

As you have already learnt in the chapter on cross-border contracts, you and your contractual partners can agree on whether a specific legal system should apply to your contract. You are free to choose the jurisdiction.

Although you have agreed on the application of a specific legal system, basic protective provisions of another legal system are nevertheless applicable to your contract. These basic legal principles always apply to protect the general public and public safety (public order, "odre public", e.g. human rights). 

Example: You and your contractual partner agree on the production of an artistic tapestry in Austria. You agree that the law of the state of Bangladesh is applicable because, according to this legal system, child labour is legal in the textile industry under certain conditions. Since child labour is illegal in Austria and violates the public order (“odre public”), you are not allowed to have the tapestry made by children, although this would theoretically be permitted under the chosen law.

To do: Before making any choice of law, you should acquire basic knowledge of the applicable contract law and seek legal advice.

If you and your contractual partner have not made a choice of law, the question arises as to which legal system applies to your contract. The European Union issued the Rome I Regulation for this purpose. The applicable law depends on the specific type of contract.

Example: In the case of a purchase contract for a movable item (e.g. a work of art), the legal system of the country in which the seller habitually resides applies. 

Example: Service contracts (e.g. the restoration of a work of art) are governed by the law of the country in which the restorer habitually resides.

If a contract type is not explicitly mentioned in the Rome I Regulation, the applicable law is determined based on the habitual residence of the person providing the service characterising the contract.

Example: Cooperation agreements on artistic collaboration are not explicitly mentioned in the Rome I Regulation. The legal system that applies is determined based upon the habitual residence of the contractual partner who fulfils the most significant part of the contract.

Artists and cultural workers are therefore confronted with different types of contracts in their professional activities. 

Artists have various ways of earning money. They are often remunerated for their artistic accomplishments, for example concert performances, employment as actors, carrying out readings, or through the sale of their artwork. They can also commercially exploit the artistic works they have already created by authorising others to use these works under copyright law in return for payment (see the chapter on copyright). In addition, artists also commission external partners, such as artist agencies or artistic work intermediaries, to support them in their professional activities. 

Cultural workers are also confronted with different types of contracts, for example if they work in a publishing house and conclude licensing agreements with artists, organise exhibitions, or are employed by a cultural institution.

As you have already learnt in the subchapter on cross-border contracts and the subchapter on the applicable law, contract law varies from country to country. Regardless of the applicable law, there are certain types of contracts that you will find in most legal systems. Below you will find an overview of relevant contract types in the arts and culture sector and typical points that are regulated in these contracts.

Attention: If you are concluding  a cross-border contract, you should also refer to the information in the sub-chapter on cross-border contracts and the sub-chapter on the applicable law.

Most legal systems contain typical types of contracts that are important for working in the arts and cultural sector. The following sections will give you an overview of the contracts involved and the points that should be regulated in these contracts:

• Art purchase agreement (purchase contract for a work of art)

• Event contract

• Author contract

• Licence agreement

• Management contract

• Exhibition agreement

• Guest performance contract

• Contract for work and labour

• Employment contract

• Agency agreement

• Management contract

• Publishing agreement

• Merchandising agreement

• Sponsorship agreement

• Cooperation agreement

Attention: Please note that the specific structure of the contract types depends on the legal system applicable to the contract. When concluding a contract, you should therefore always check the statutory provisions in the respective law, for example on the minimum content of a contract, default, liability, and remuneration. See the chapter on Austrian contract law to find out more about Austrian regulations.

Every country has its own copyright laws. Therefore, if you work internationally as an artist, you are always confronted with foreign copyright regulations. 

The laws of another country may apply depending on where you exploit your intellectual property, where someone has infringed your copyrights, or whether you have contractually agreed to apply the law of a particular country. Many countries have concluded international agreements to define certain basic rules surrounding copyright law.

The European Union has also issued harmonised standards that apply to the exploitation/infringement of copyrights relating to EU/EEA countries. These also apply in Austria. 

The following sections provide you with an overview of these standards.

As already mentioned in the chapter on copyright in the European Union, the European Union has developed basic standards surrounding copyright. 

Whenever the law of an EU/EEA country is applicable, the following basic standards apply:

• Works of art by EU/EEA citizens are protected in other EU/EEA countries under the same conditions as the works of art of the respective nationals. The scope of protection always depends on the copyright laws of the specific EU/EEA country.
• The extent to which works of art by third-country nationals are protected in other EU/EEA countries depends on the copyright laws of the respective countries. In these cases, the main question is whether the respective EU/EEA country has concluded an international copyright agreement with your country of origin.
• In copyright agreements, it is always possible to mutually agree that the law of a particular country applies to the contract. If authors do not choose the applicable law in their contracts, the law of the country in which the contract's characteristic performance was rendered or to which the contract has the closest connection applies in accordance with the Rome I Regulation (see the example below).
• In all member states, it is possible to use copyright-protected works in certain ways without the author's consent (free use of works). What these are in detail, however, depends on the laws of the individual member states. In most cases, use in the field of science, satire, or for exclusively private purposes is permitted.
• The EU has issued basic standards for collecting societies, which serve to protect the interests (e.g. remuneration, enforcement of rights, distribution of works of art) of authors. Each member state has only one collecting society for a specific genre of art (monopoly principle). See the chapter on collecting societies below.
• Principle of European exhaustion. If an author authorises another person to publish their work of art in an EU/EEA country, once the work has actually been published there, it may automatically be published in all other EU/EEA countries. 

Example: You are an Italian author and grant a Belgian publisher based in Brussels the rights to use your new novel on Belgian territory. Your book is printed, marketed, and sold in Belgium. Belgian law applies to the publishing contract because the place of fulfilment is in Belgium and the closest connection is to Belgium.

Attention: The conditions under which a work is protected by copyright and the types of exploitation available to authors differ from member state to member state. You should find out about the respective national regulations in the countries where you are working as an artist.

To answer the following questions, you must check the copyright laws of the EU/EEA country in which you exploit your art, in which your copyright has been infringed, or whose law you have contractually agreed to apply for the copyright exploitation of your works: 

• Who is the author of a work of art?
• Which exploitation rights do authors have?
• Which exploitation rights can authors not prohibit other people from exercising?
• How can authors defend themselves against copyright infringements?

To do: Find out whether your country of origin has concluded an agreement with the country in which you wish to commercially exploit your artwork. 

The EU has issued a directive to standardise the regulations on collecting societies, which serve to collectively protect the interests (e.g. remuneration, enforcement of rights, distribution of works of art) of authors and ancillary copyright holders in certain artistic genres. 

Info: Ancillary copyright holders are not authors, but they are entitled to similar rights. Some of these include performing artists and people whose artistic productions are not protected by copyright. See the chapter on ancillary copyrights.

Artists transfer their exploitation rights to collecting societies, which then take care of their exploitation. Each member state has only one collecting society for a specific artistic genre (monopoly principle).

Example: In Germany, the collecting society Bild-Kunst represents the interests of visual artists, while in Austria it is the collecting society Bildrecht, and in Norway Bono Opphavsrett. 

If users wish to use artistic productions protected by ancillary copyrights or copyrights, they must contact the collecting society. They will then be granted permission to use the work. 

This is advantageous for users as well as for authors and ancillary copyrights holders. Collecting societies conclude standardised contracts with their members and grant permission to use the artists’ entire repertoire at standard rates.

They also fulfil the purpose of representing interests. Collecting societies from different countries conclude reciprocity agreements so that the other collecting society can also exploit the foreign artists’ repertoire in their own country. 

Example: You are a singer in Portugal and have a whole repertoire of songs. You authorise a Portuguese collecting society to manage your rights. Your Portuguese collecting society has concluded reciprocity agreements with all relevant collecting societies within the EU/EEA. Consequently, your songs can also be exploited in all other EU/EEA countries through foreign collecting societies.

As collecting societies do not only conclude reciprocal representation agreements within the EU/EEA, but also with collecting societies in third countries, many collecting societies are practically rights holders of the entire global repertoire. They have a strong position in collective bargaining and could advocate for appropriate remuneration for authors. 

If artists do not have their rights managed by collecting societies, users would have to contact the artists for every work they wanted to use. In addition, authors would always have to check for themselves whether someone was using their works without authorisation. Given the large number of uses, this would be virtually impossible for either of the two parties.

To do: You should check the use of your works yourself and notify your collecting society of any unauthorised use. Check whether you find any known but missing uses in the collecting society's statement. If there are errors in the statement, you can file a complaint with the collecting society within a certain period.

There are a few exceptions meaning that artists cannot manage their rights themselves and must therefore conclude a contract with the collecting societies in order for them to be managed. 

Example: Remuneration claims, such as the flat-rate levy for storage media remuneration, can only be paid out to authors by the collecting society. In order to receive this remuneration, authors must contact a collecting society.