Works and rights

Can I give away a work free of charge when I am a TONO member?

19/04/2018

When you sign a management contract with TONO, you – as a creator of musical works – give TONO responsibility for managing your performance rights and mechanical rights. You are then bound to comply with the management contract and its prevailing regulations (s 2 and 5). In principle, you cannot accept that your own works […]

What does it mean that a work is copyright free?

According to Norwegian Copyright law, an artistic work is protected by copyright for 70 years after the year its creator(s) deceased. After this, the work becomes copyright free, which means that you are free to use the work without any special permission. For more information, please see the following (in Norwegian): https://lovdata.no/lov/1961-05-12-2  

How do I protect my works against plagiarism?

The Norwegian Copyright Act protects the creator’s intellectual property and financial rights and entitlements to the work. If you are concerned that your music may be plagiarised, you should make sure you are able to document the fact that you created the music first. One way to do this is to send the musical score […]

How are percentages allocated between a work’s creators?

The creators of a work are free to agree upon a split which is then reported to TONO. If an agreed split is stipulated in the work notification submitted to TONO, that split will apply irrespective of the role the individual has played in the creation of the work. Please note that the work notification […]

Do I have to submit documentation of the work?

No. In principle, you do not need to submit any documentation along with your work notification. TONO has a scheme, under which a random sample of works is routinely selected. Documentation for these works will be requested specifically. This scheme has been set up to ensure that reported works comply with the criteria stipulated in […]

Why do I have to notify TONO of all my works?

TONO uses your work notifications as the basis for the calculation and distribution of royalties due to you. Before we can calculate and pay you for the public performance of your music, you must notify TONO of each of your works via our online services. You should submit your work notification no later than the […]

What is meant by a “musical work”?

In the context of TONO, a “work” is a piece of music or a song. If you have played a part as composer, lyricist and/or arranger, you are a rights holder of the work

Can TONO help me in the event of a dispute?

No. TONO is not a judicial body and has no authority to adjudicate disputes between two parties in matters relating, for example, to plagiarism or similar copyright infringements. We must remain neutral with respect to disputes between rights holders, and disputes between publishers and creators, since we manage both parties’ financial rights and entitlements. This […]