CAPASSO will license the reproduction or reformatting of musical works and is authorised, by way of a mandate from its members, to issue such mechanical rights licences, collect the licence fees and distribute them as royalties back to the members.
The organisation came about as a result of extensive negotiations between SAMRO and NORM, with the vision to create a proactive, responsive and progressive mechanical rights licensing hub, which would represent all rights holders and would play an integral role in the copyright licensing landscape on the African continent.
Supported by the Copyright Review Commission Report released by the DTI in 2012, which recommended one collecting society per right in South Africa, both SAMRO and NORM transferred their mechanical rights licensing operations to CAPASSO and support the organisation's strategic goals of service excellence to both members and users, comprehensive licensing in the digital era and being a truly African organisation.
CAPASSO will be communicating with the industry and prospective members in the near future with more details and developments.
