Collective Rights Management Supports Cross-Border Use — JASRAC's International Network and Global Royalty Distribution

In an era when music is used across borders, the international distribution mechanism run by collective rights-management organizations carries renewed weight. As of 2026, JASRAC partners with 227 organizations in 111 countries and regions, forming a framework that mutually represents creators worldwide. ZEN editorial outlines its significance.

By signing reciprocal management agreements with organizations in each country, collective rights-management bodies distribute royalties for music used overseas across borders. JASRAC's international network spans 227 organizations in 111 countries and regions, indirectly covering more than five million creators.

With the global expansion of streaming, music can be played in many countries from the moment of release. In such an environment, a collective-management mechanism that reliably collects and distributes overseas-use royalties becomes a premise underpinning creators' revenue base.

Now that overseas distribution is the norm, accurately registering a work's rights information and placing it on the reciprocal-management network is a practical key to preventing leakage of overseas-use royalties. The accuracy of registration data directly affects the accuracy of distribution.

Collective management eases the burden on individual artists of tracking use in each country. Ensuring transparency and speeding up distribution remain ongoing challenges, and operational rules are being reviewed.

As cross-border use becomes routine, organizing rights information and using collective-management networks is a basic move to avoid missing overseas revenue. For ZEN CREATIVE LAB-registered artists, improving registration accuracy provides a foothold for overseas expansion.

Source: JASRAC, METI music industry reports, and others.