Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) A company limited by guarantee may apply to the Tribunal for a declaration that the company be a collecting society for the purposes of Division 2 of Part VII.
(2) The parties to the application are the applicant and any person made a party by the Tribunal.
(3) The Tribunal may make a person a party if:
(a) the person asks to be made a party; and
(b) the Tribunal thinks that the person has a sufficient interest in either or both of the following questions:
(i) whether the applicant should be declared to be a collecting society;
(ii) whether any current declaration of a company as a collecting society should be revoked.
(4) After giving each party an opportunity of presenting its case, the Tribunal must:
(a) declare the applicant to be a collecting society for the purposes of Division 2 of Part VII; or
(b) reject the application.
(5) A declaration of a company as a collecting society for the purposes of Division 2 of Part VII may be a declaration in relation to:
(a) all government copies; or
(b) a specified class of government copies.
(6) The Tribunal may only declare the applicant to be a collecting society if the Tribunal is satisfied:
(a) that the applicant is a company limited by guarantee incorporated under a law in force in a State or Territory relating to companies; and
(b) in the case of an application for a declaration in relation to all government copies, that the applicant's rules permit the owner, or the agent of the owner, of the copyright in any copyright material to become a member; and
(c) in the case of an application for a declaration in relation to a class of government copies, that the applicant's rules permit the owner, or the agent of the owner, of the copyright in any copyright material a reproduction of which in accordance with section 183 would be within that class to become a member; and
(d) that the applicant's rules prohibit the payment of dividends to its members; and
(e) that the applicant's rules contain such provisions about all of the following matters as are adequate for the protection of its members:
(i) the collection of remuneration payable under section 183A;
(ii) the payment of administrative costs of the collecting society out of remuneration it collects;
(iii) the distribution of remuneration the collecting society collects;
(iv) the collecting society holding on trust remuneration for owners of copyright in copyright material who are not members of the society;
(v) access to the collecting society's records by its members; and
(f) that the applicant's rules contain such other provisions as are required by the regulations to be included for the protection of members of the society.
(7) A declaration must specify the day on which it takes effect.
(8) If the Tribunal makes a declaration under this section, the Registrar must publish the declaration in the Gazette .