Core Concepts & Workflows

This section introduces the core concepts of rights and the standard workflows that define who declares what, to whom, and when. Before entering data in Reprtoir, it is essential to understand how rights information is structured in the music publishing industry. Rights data is not only about who owns what, but also about who is allowed to collect where and under which mandate.

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Disclaimer
The information on this page is provided for guidance and illustration only. It describes common industry practices and best practices for entering rights data in Reprtoir in a way that is CWR compliant.
In practice, requirements may vary depending on your contracts, your partners, and the rules of each CMO/PRO/MRO. Always communicate with your partners (Publishers, Sub-Publishers, Administrators) before exchanging data, and confirm expectations with the relevant society. Running tests before sending official deliveries is strongly recommended.

Ownership vs. Collection

Ownership defines the legal reality: who owns what share of a work, based on contracts between authors, composers, and publishers.
Collection defines the practical administration: who is authorized to collect royalties for those shares, and in which territories.

Rights: Best Practices

Always claim ownership of the controlled shares of the work.
Optionally declare ownership of uncontrolled shares (for transparency only or because is required by the CWR recipient).
Optionally declare collection of controlled shares worldwide.
Optionally declare collection of controlled shares by territory.
Never declare collection for uncontrolled shares (unsupported by CWR standard).

These optional declarations depend on the level of detail you wish to send to the recipient (CMO/PRO/MRO or partner).

Workflows: Who Declares What

In practice, rights data always moves through predictable workflows. The payload you send depends on the type of declaration:

Workflow	What to Send	Why
Registration of a New Work to your CMO (CWR NWR)	Ownership only	The CMO handles collection locally, and internationally through reciprocal agreements (CISAC network), unless you decide to appoint partners for certain territories.
Exchange between Partners (Publisher → Sub-Publisher or Administrator)	Ownership only	Recipients must add their own collection rules, as they know the specifics of their local CMO and any required Agreement Numbers.
Registration of Sub-Publishing or Administration to a CMO	Ownership + Collection	Societies need both ownership and collection information to process royalties correctly.

Controlled vs. Uncontrolled Shares

Controlled Shares are the rights that a company manages through contracts or mandates.
Uncontrolled Shares belong to contributors outside that company’s control, but they still need to be declared for a complete and transparent chain of rights.

Best practice: Controlled shares must always be declared. Uncontrolled shares may also be declared for ownership only (not collection), so the chain of rights is transparent without creating duplicate collection claims.

Worldwide vs. Territorial Rules

Worldwide Rules apply when rights are administered globally (e.g., by an Original Publisher or an Administrator with a worldwide mandate).
Territorial Rules apply when rights are limited to specific countries or regions (e.g., Sub-Publishing or Administration in France, Germany, Benelux, etc.).

In Reprtoir:

The Worldwide box always reflects ownership rights.
Territorial boxes are added to declare specific collection rules for Sub-Publishers or Administrators.