Founded in 2010 in order to correspond to the future European Union Directive on collecting societies and online licenses of musical works, the Cultural Commons Collecting Society SCE mbH was entered into the register of cooperatives of the local court of Düsseldorf (No. GnR 506). The C3S SCE is therefore now vested with legal capacity and capable of acting. Now, the first employees will be hired and the development project which is supported by the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia will be launched on May 1st.
“The entry into the register of cooperatives has been the last missing link. Now we are finally able to get going”, rejoices Meik Michalke, Managing Director and one of the initiators of the C3S. “It was a long way and plenty of work from the Startnext crowdfunding campaign until today.”
Wolfgang Senges, Managing Director along with Michalke and also one of the initiators of the C3S, says: “The foundation and the great support we received from our community have given us the necessary backing. After the foundation followed the assessment by the cooperative union, which again was the condition for the entry into the register. Only after the registration we are able to receive the revenues for the shares that were subscribed to via Startnext, which, until now, were held in trust there. Thus, the equity capital is completed, so that the project, which is supported by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, can be started.”
Michalke adds: “It was the moral support and the trust we have received from our community that enabled us to survive such an administrative marathon. We have been working at the development of the C3S for more than four years. Now we have reached
our most important milestone so far and are ready to start - with, and for, our more than 800 members. The next step will be the fulfillment of the requirements of the German Patent and Trademark Office, so that we will finally be approved as a collecting society.”
Attorney Meinhard Starostik, Chairperson of the supervisory board of the C3S, says about the legal and political significance: “Europe prevails, also with regards to collecting societies. The future European Union Directive on collecting societies and online licenses of musical works corresponds in the C3S SCE at the level of copyright allocation and licensing. Through the registration as a European Cooperative we are now vested with legal capacity and capable of acting all over Europe. We have founded C3S at exactly the right time and hope to commence full business operations next year.” |
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