As the CMOs are mostly specialised in one sector — GEMA, for example, in musical works and VG Wort in literary works – they usually have a de facto monopoly position in their sector. For this reason and because they act in a fiduciary capacity for their right holders, CMOs are subject to government supervision by the DPMA under the Collective Management Organisations Act (CMO Act – Verwertungsgesellschaftengesetz). As supervisory authority we act in the public interest. Requests and complaints from right holders or users also prompt us to carry out an investigation. We ensure that the organisation of CMOs complies with the statutory requirements. Furthermore, we monitor compliance by CMOs with the obligations towards their members and right holders, on the one hand, and the users, on the other hand. In this respect, we check, among other things, whether they comply with the requirements for setting tariffs. The amount to be paid for a particular use is specified in the tariffs set by the CMOs. The Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht) has clarified our scope of competence in this respect. On 17 June 2020, it confirmed that the supervisory authority is entitled to carry out a comprehensive examination of CMO tariffs. The court also held that CMOs had an obligation to identify to the extent necessary the rights managed by them prior to setting a tariff.

In agreement with the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt), the DPMA has so far granted authorisation to conduct business to 13 CMOs. In 2019, the total revenues generated by CMOs amounted to about 1.68 billion euros. The amount of each individual CMO is listed in the table.

People working in the creative industries, in particular, have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. They suffered great losses due to the cancellation of concerts and other events. In order to support the particularly affected members and right holders as quickly and with as little bureaucracy as possible, many CMOs have launched measures to support them and paid out financial support through the existing social funds.

The revenues of the CMOs for 2020 are expected to be significantly lower in many areas than in previous years. For example, CMOs lost revenues from royalties for music, television and radio programmes often played in public at restaurants, gyms and numerous other establishments because these venues were closed.

The pandemic made the work of the CMOs more difficult: Meetings of the supervisory bodies and their committees as well as general meetings had often to be postponed or held online.