Introduction to Trust Management

Trust management is a centralized system for managing neighboring rights. With the growth of the online music market, it has become difficult for individual rights holders to track who is using their work, when, and how, making it practically impossible to exercise their rights individually. To address this, rights holders entrust their sound sources to the association. The association then undertakes integrated management of these entrusted sound sources to facilitate smooth usage licensing and ensure proper rights protection.
Under the Trust Act, a trust is a legal relationship based on a special fiduciary relationship between a trustor (settlor) and a trustee. The trustor transfers specific property rights or makes other dispositions to the trustee, who then manages and disposes of the property for the benefit of a designated person or for a specific purpose. The basic legal nature of copyright trust management under the Copyright Act is identical to that of a trust under the Trust Act. As a form of copyright trust management business, it is also called a 'centralized management system' because a copyright management organization centrally manages and exercises copyrights on behalf of the rights holders, instead of them exercising their rights individually.
In simple terms, it means 'managing the copyrighted (and neighboring) works entrusted by the rights holders from their perspective, based on a trust management agreement.' The trust (centralized) management system is an efficient way to jointly address environments where it is difficult to resolve issues individually due to legal, institutional, and practical online situations, thereby protecting the rights of the rights holders and increasing their benefits.
Through trust management, it is possible to take legal action against the illegal use of sound sources by numerous online sites, so-called internet broadcasts, and music service providers via wired/wireless phones. It also allows for the effective pursuit of expanding the rights of record producers regarding compensation for the broadcasting of commercial records and for private copying, and enables the timely development of new music markets in the new media era.
Furthermore, the trust management of neighboring rights for records (sound sources) was approved on March 17, 2003, by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism after deliberation by the Copyright Deliberation and Mediation Committee, an internet opinion poll, and a policy review. This was in response to the association's application on December 13, 2002, for the trust management of neighboring rights for record planners and producers.

Trust Agreement Procedure

  • The trust agreement is concluded through the following methods and procedures.

    Our association is always striving to provide legitimate rights and high-quality services for the valuable records (sound sources) of record (sound source) producers.

    1. ① Those who wish to entrust their rights must submit the necessary documents for the trust agreement application in person or by mail.
    2. ② Record (sound source) producers who wish to entrust the rights to their sound sources to the association should sign the trust agreement after fully understanding and familiarizing themselves with the terms and conditions of the trust agreement. It is also possible to select the scope of the trust, such as by album, by song, or by right, when signing the agreement.
    3. ③ Upon completion of the trust agreement, a trust certificate will be issued to the applicant upon request.
  • Trust Agreement Terms and Conditions

    (Procedural guidance and document submission)

  • Signing the Trust Agreement
  • Rights Verification
  • Trust Management
    Reflection in Sound Source Manager System DB
  • Usage Licensing
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