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Toronto, December 22, 2022 – SOCAN today announced an agreement with Copyright Visual Arts/Droit d’Auteurs en Arts Visuels (COVA-DAAV) that will see the transfer of SOCAN’s visual arts and crafts business to COVA-DAAV, serving members from offices in Montréal and Ottawa.
The move means that COVA-DAAV will be the only copyright collecting agency in Canada tasked with licensing and distributing copyright royalties to the visual arts and crafts sector. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“After careful analysis, we have decided to focus entirely on our core work of managing the performing and reproduction rights of songwriter, composer, and music publisher members and clients,” said SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown. “We are delighted that visual arts and crafts members will be in great hands with COVA-DAAV, a proven leader and expert in that market, and wish them and their members every success for the future.”
“This new consolidation of services simplifies access to licensing support for visual artists, their estates, and other rightsholders, and we share SOCAN’s vision for the future of licensing and copyright management for our sector,” said Marcia Lea, Executive Director of COVA-DAAV.
Copyright Visual Arts has the full support of CARFAC and RAAV, the national associations for visual artists in Canada and Quebec, respectively. CARFAC and RAAV have always been confident in the collective’s deep understanding of the visual arts ecosystem, allowing them to negotiate the best terms for their artist-members.
“We are thrilled with this news, knowing that artists in Quebec and Canada will feel welcome and supported, and that COVA-DAAV will continue to provide high quality service to their new artist-members and rightsholders,” said Paddy Lamb, CARFAC’s National President.
Following its acquisition of SODRAC in 2018, SOCAN has managed a visual arts department, representing more than 40,000 creators and rightsholders worldwide. The agreement with COVA-DAAV underscores SOCAN’s heightened commitment to its music creator and publisher members and clients, through the company’s member-centric strategic pillar.
SOCAN plans to conclude its visual arts and crafts business on January 30, 2023, with the recommendation that relevant members join Copyright Visual Arts.
Copyright Visual Arts also responds to a shifting art economy by providing effective digital tools to enable visual artists to achieve sustainable careers. This includes their new Image Bank digital licensing service, and Copyright Visual Arts’ partnership in building Imprimo, a new Blockchain platform, which helps artists organize and present their work, authoritatively track its provenance, make connections within the arts community, and create opportunities for discovery.
About SOCAN
SOCAN is a rights management organization that connects more than four-million music creators worldwide and more than a quarter-million businesses and individuals in Canada. More than 180,000 songwriters, composers, music publishers and visual artists are its direct members, and more than 100,000 organizations are Licensed To Play music across Canada. With a concerted use of progressive technology and unique data, SOCAN is dedicated to upholding the fundamental truths that music has value and creators and publishers deserve fair compensation for their work. For more information: www.socan.com
About COVA-DAAV
Copyright Visual Arts/Droit d’Auteurs en Arts Visuels (previously known as CARCC) was founded in 1990, in order to help visual artists negotiate payment for the exhibition and reproduction of their work. With over 30 years of experience protecting artists’ rights, they are the only Canadian copyright collective exclusively run by visual artists, for visual artists. With a membership that is national in scope, agreements with sister societies internationally, and offices in Ottawa and Montreal, Copyright Visual Arts is well positioned to assist artists across the country with their administration of their copyrights now; in the future, Copyright Visual Arts will also aim to assist artists with the administration of the Artist’s Resale Right should it become law in Canada.
Media contacts:
SOCAN: Nicole Van Severen, Nicole.VanSeveren@socan.com
COVA-DAAV: Marcia Lea, Executive Director, administration@cova-daav.ca