Global copyright leaders have gathered in Sydney as the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) board meets in Australia for the first time in 25 years, hosted by APRA AMCOS.

The meeting marks 100 years since the formation of both organisations on opposite sides of the world, united by the principle that creative work carries economic value that must be recognised and protected. 

CISAC represents 228 collective management organisations across 111 countries, together speaking for more than five million creators in music, audiovisual, drama, literature and visual arts, and collecting more than US$15 billion annually in royalties.

Board members in Sydney include leaders of major rights bodies such as ASCAP (US), GEMA (Germany), JASRAC(Japan), PRS for Music (UK) and SACEM (France).

APRA AMCOS chief executive Dean Ormston, who has chaired CISAC since 2025, said the centenary gathering comes at a pivotal moment as copyright systems confront the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence.

“Creators are the cultural, social and economic fabric of every nation,” says Ormston. “Protecting them, and in particular creators of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, is not optional. It is exactly what APRA, CISAC and our global network of societies exist to do and have existed to do for one hundred years.”

APRA-CISAC (L-R): Dean Ormston, Jennifer Brown, Gadi Oron. Photo © Tori Hyland

A recent CISAC-commissioned study found the generative AI music market could reach €16 billion annually by 2028, with up to 24 per cent of creators’ revenues at risk without effective regulation and licensing frameworks.

APRA AMCOS has positioned itself at the forefront of Australia’s AI debate, releasing a landmark AI and Music report and playing a central role in a coalition that opposed the introduction of a Text and Data Mining exception into Australian copyright law.

CISAC director general Gadi Oron said the scale of technological transformation demanded renewed collective resolve.

“The scale of transformation we are witnessing today calls for the same collective resolve that defined our founding a century ago,” says Oron. “Our responsibility – now as always – is to ensure that innovation strengthens the creative economy rather than diminishes it, and that creators receive a fair share of the value their works generate. Human creativity is the fuel that powers AI systems and it must be protected, respected and fairly remunerated.”