If a radio station has gross annual revenues of 100,000 euros, it will have to pay up to 4,500 euros for broadcasting music. Even for televisions, the figures are approximate. This is the maximum percentage based on the fees published by “Kosova Music Right Society”, which, since there is no objection, are on the way to approval. These come after those for restaurants and cafes that are already in place for next year. From the first day of January, there will be no more free music on the radio, television, or cafes, restaurants, shops, and shopping centers.
All radio stations in Kosovo will pay an annual copyright fee of 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent of gross annual revenue, depending on the duration of the broadcast of the musical works. And for televisions, the same rule applies as regards gross income, except that the rates differ. Depending on the airtime, they range from 1.5 percent to 4 percent of gross revenue. And when the income is low and does not reflect the real value or is not available, fees will be applied based on the audience: For radios from 800 to 6500 euros and for televisions from 500 to 5500 euros. These rates will be in effect if television or radio stations have not objected to them by Thursday, which was also the deadline. Otherwise, they are considered to be in force from the first day of the following year.
“Kosova Music Right Society” as a licensed organization for the collective management of copyrights in the field of music has made the fees public. These come after those for restaurants and cafes that are already in place for next year. From the first day of January, there will be no more free music on the radio, television, nor in cafes, restaurants, shops and shopping centers.
Through a process that started last year, the Ministry of Culture has received the license from the association APIK, the new association has been registered and the deadline for the payment of fees is approaching.
From March 30, the draft tariffs were published on the website of the association, as well as with an announcement on that of the Ministry of Culture.
“Kosova Music Right Society” has clarified that the formula on which the fees are built stems directly from the implementation of the Law on copyright and related rights, which expressly defines the criteria that must be taken into consideration for their establishment.
“In this context, the KMRS methodology is built reflecting the criteria required by the Law, namely: the income that can be obtained as a result of the use of a work; the capacity and extent of transmission; the size of the public; the geographic location and the economic characteristics of the market; cases when the income does not reflect the real nature of the use (minimum fee); the importance of the use of musical works in the user’s activity as well as the ratio between protected works and other content”, it is written in association clarifications. It is known that also, in accordance with legal requirements, the need to differentiate the level of fees depending on the source of income, in particular between entities financed by public subsidies and those operating on a commercial basis, has been taken into consideration.
“To fulfill the criterion of comparison, the proposed tariffs have been analyzed in relation to the tariffs of similar collective organizations in other countries, in particular those with economic conditions and living standards comparable to the Republic of Kosovo, including North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Croatia. It should be noted that for some of these countries, the available data are from earlier periods (in some cases since 2011), which means that current tariff levels are likely to be higher,” the response reads. It is clarified that in this context, the fees proposed by the association are positioned below the level of these references and reflect a careful approach, while simultaneously fulfilling the requirements of the law. This association has clarified that as far as representation is concerned, in the field of collective management, reference is made to the repertoire and not to individuals or separate companies. According to the answers, in this context, KMRS represents at least 30 thousand local musical works, as well as hundreds of thousands of international works.
“Regarding the objections, so far there have been no objections, but only requests for clarifications regarding the legal criteria and mechanisms, which are directly defined by the law and for which the organization has no competence or room for intervention”, it is written in the answers returned before the deadline for objections has expired. The association has informed that regarding the implementation, the start of the implementation of the tariffs is planned for the next calendar year, in accordance with the relevant legal procedures.
In KOHË’s questions to the Ministry of Culture, this institution clarified that the organization licensed for collective management, administers a repertoire that includes over 30 thousand local musical works, as well as through international agreements, such as the one with “Universal Music”, KMRS administers a wide international repertoire. According to MKRS, in the practice of collective rights management, the repertoire means the set of works for which a collective management organization is authorized to administer the rights on behalf of the rights holders, including cases where a work may have more than one rights holder, such as authors, co-authors, performers or producers, depending on the relevant rights structure. The Ministry of Culture, in the answers returned a few days before the deadline for objections, has announced that it has received only two requests for clarifications, which are related to the form and method of determining the fees.
“No objection has been received regarding the level or height of the proposed fees. In accordance with Article 102 of the Law on copyright and related rights, if within thirty (30) days from the publication of the fees, no user representative organization, joint authorized representative of users, or natural or legal person obliged to pay the remuneration, does not notify the collective management organization and the Office that they do not accept the fees, then it is considered that the tariffs have been approved for the following calendar year. This means that, in case of fulfillment of the conditions defined in the law, the tariffs will be considered approved for the year 2027”, said the Ministry of Culture.
In October of last year, the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the “Kosovo Music Rights Society” held an informative conference on the topic “Empowerment of music rights through collective management”. The official launch of the collective management organization for copyrights in the field of music was also held at this event. The organization is led by Kaltrina Mehmeti.
Kosovo has been trying since 2012, through organizations for the collective management of copyright, to start respecting the Law on the protection of copyright and related rights. But despite negotiations on tariff agreements, no such thing has been done. After receiving the license of the APIK organization, the new organization quickly managed to get the rates for the premises. Last July, it announced to the parties and the public that the “Kosovo Music Rights Society” has published the draft tariffs for the use of protected music works for 2026. The KMRS is licensed by the MKRS in April 2025. The tariffs for premises have already been approved. And to benefit from collective copyright protection, artists must register or join the association. For those with annual turnover up to 30 thousand euros, membership costs 20 euros per year, for those with turnover from 30 thousand to 100 thousand euros per year, membership costs 200 euros, and for those who exceed this annual turnover, membership costs 350 euros. But the core of this process is payments for streaming music. According to the fees, if a cafe or restaurant with a musical atmosphere has an annual turnover of 401 thousand to 450 thousand euros per year, a fixed 5 thousand and 260 euros will be paid for music. For concerts and musical performances, the organizers will pay 4 percent of the event’s revenues, and this percentage increases from year to year. Music performances will pay 17 euros for copyright if the organization’s expenses are one thousand euros. This also depends on the entrance ticket. When expenses increase, so does the fee. In sports events, the first example is that if the entrance ticket is 5 euros and 250 people gather, 25 euros will be paid as a copyright fee. Commercial networks up to 300 square meters will pay a fixed 80 euros per year, above this area from 0.10 cents per square meter per year.
Cafes and restaurants with a musical atmosphere will pay based on annual turnover. Up to 50,000 euros, 150 euros are paid per year.
Traditional cafes and restaurants will pay the fee based on the number of residents in the municipality. The scale starts with 15 euros per 10,000 inhabitants. Sales agencies and other offices that provide services to the public will be charged based on the number of employees. From 1 to 6 employees is paid from 60 euros per year. Sports halls will have a fee of 40 cents per square meter, while fast food spaces, depending on the chairs they have for customers. For 10 places, the fee is 50 euros per year.
Previously, in March 2018, the Ministry of Culture had announced the agreement between APIK and television and radio stations. The four channels of Radio Television of Kosovo would pay the annual amount of 30 thousand euros general fee to have the right to use the music for broadcasting. Televisions with national frequency would pay from 6 thousand euros per year fee, regional televisions 1 thousand 200 euros annual fee, local TVs 600 euros, music cable channels 2 thousand 400 euros, other cable channels 1 thousand 800 euros, national radios 3 thousand 600 euros, regional ones 720 euros, local radios 480 euros, TVs and low power radios would pay 240 and 180 euros respectively. This had not worked at all.
