ALBAUTOR

Albania • TiranaFounded 1992

ALBAUTOR is a collective management organization in Albania that manages and protects authors’ rights, including licensing and royalty collection for music and other works.

Contact & HQ

Headquarters

Tirana, Albania

Territories

Albania

Royalty Rates

No royalty rate information available.

Affiliated Societies

CISAC

ALBAUTOR (Agjensia Shqiptare e Autorve) is Albania's first and primary collective management organization for creators' rights. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Tirana, it administers musical, dramatic, literary, and AGP (Arts of Graphic and Plastic) rights. ALBAUTOR is licensed by the Albanian Ministry of Culture as the sole representative of creators' rights in the Republic of Albania.

How ALBAUTOR Works

ALBAUTOR operates under Albanian copyright law (Law No. 35/2016, "On Copyright and Related Rights"). The organization was restructured in 2015 with new leadership selected to build a fair and legal system for collecting copyright fees and distributing revenue to rights holders.

As a CISAC member since 1993, ALBAUTOR integrates Albanian creators' works into the global system of collective management organizations. This means ALBAUTOR represents the rights of Albanian creators internationally and protects the works of foreign creators within Albanian territory. The organization represents rights holders registered in approximately 239 collective management organizations across 123+ countries.

ALBAUTOR issues licenses to businesses that use protected works in Albania, including radio stations, television broadcasters, venues, restaurants, and other establishments. The collected fees are distributed to registered rights holders based on usage data.

Real-World Example

An Albanian composer writes a song that gets regular airplay on Albanian radio stations and is performed at live concerts in Tirana. They register the work with ALBAUTOR, providing the song title, composer information, and publisher details. ALBAUTOR collects licensing fees from the radio stations and concert venues through its blanket licensing program.

If the same song gets performed in neighboring countries like Italy or Greece, ALBAUTOR's CISAC membership allows it to collect those international royalties through reciprocal agreements with Italian society SIAE and Greek society AUTODIA. The composer receives both domestic and international royalties through a single ALBAUTOR account.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

If you are an Albanian songwriter, composer, or publisher, joining ALBAUTOR is the only way to collect performance royalties for your works performed publicly in Albania. The organization holds a government-licensed monopoly as the sole collective management body in the country, meaning no other organization can collect these royalties on your behalf within Albanian territory.

Albanian creators should also understand that ALBAUTOR manages multiple repertoires beyond music, including dramatic and literary works. For music creators specifically, ALBAUTOR covers performance royalties but does not handle mechanical royalties or neighboring rights. You need separate arrangements for those revenue streams.

The CISAC membership is particularly valuable for Albanian artists whose music crosses borders. Without ALBAUTOR's international network, individual creators would have no practical way to track and collect royalties from performances in other countries. Read our guide on all the music royalties you should be collecting to understand the full picture.

Territory Covered

ALBAUTOR operates across all of Albania. The organization is headquartered at Bulevardi "Bajram Curri" Nr. 114, Kati II, Ap. 1, Tirana. Licensed by the Albanian Ministry of Culture as the sole representative of creators' rights in the Republic of Albania, ALBAUTOR holds a government-licensed monopoly for collective management of authors' rights within Albanian territory. The organization administers musical, dramatic, literary, and AGP (Arts of Graphic and Plastic) rights nationwide.

Membership and Fees

ALBAUTOR membership is open to authors, composers, and publishers of artistic, literary, musical, and audiovisual works. The organization was established in 1992 as an association of authors, composers, artists, and publishers. To join, creators must contact ALBAUTOR at info@albautor.net or +355 4 452 97 97. Specific membership fees are not publicly listed on the ALBAUTOR website. The organization operates as a private non-profit entity under Albanian copyright law (Law No. 35/2016, "On Copyright and Related Rights").

Overhead Rate

ALBAUTOR does not publicly disclose its overhead rate or administrative deduction percentage on its website or in its annual reports. The organization collects revenues from two sources: the One-Stop Shop SUADA (a unified collection system in Albania) and foreign sister societies through reciprocal agreements. Administrative costs are deducted from collected revenues before distribution to rights holders. In 2020, ALBAUTOR collected 9,347,993 ALL (approximately EUR 76,000) in total remunerations. Of this, 2,673,358 ALL came from SUADA and the remainder from foreign societies. For current overhead rate information, contact ALBAUTOR directly.

Royalty Distribution Schedule

ALBAUTOR distributes collected royalties to registered rights holders based on usage data. The organization publishes distribution notifications on its website. Collections come from two sources: the One-Stop Shop SUADA (for domestic collections) and foreign sister societies (for international collections). The specific distribution frequency is not publicly detailed on the ALBAUTOR website. The organization's annual reports indicate that distributions are processed periodically based on collected revenues. In 2019, ALBAUTOR collected 19,479,881 ALL in remunerations. In 2020, collections decreased to 9,347,993 ALL, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on public performance venues.

Reciprocal Agreements

ALBAUTOR has been a CISAC member since 1993 (provisional membership granted on March 6, 2016, CISAC Code 127). Through CISAC membership and reciprocal representation agreements, ALBAUTOR represents the rights of Albanian creators internationally and protects the works of foreign creators within Albanian territory. The organization represents rights holders registered in approximately 239 collective management organizations across 123+ countries. Notable reciprocal relationships include:

SIAE (Italy): Collects for Albanian works performed in Italy
AUTODIA (Greece): Collects for Albanian works performed in Greece
GEMA (Germany): Collects for Albanian works performed in Germany
SACEM (France): Collects for Albanian works performed in France

ALBAUTOR also participates in the SUADA (One-Stop Shop) system for unified royalty collection in Albania, alongside other agencies including AMP, AKDIE, and FMAA.

Notable Members

ALBAUTOR has 421 members (as of the 2020 annual report), comprising 211 composers, 184 lyricists, 18 screenwriters, 2 film directors, 3 photographers, and 2 painters. Notable members include:

Haig Zacharian (born 1952): Composer and music educator of Armenian descent. Served as president of ALBAUTOR from 1998 to 2009. Composed chamber, choral, instrumental, vocal-symphonic, stage, and film music. Collaborated on 27 Albanian films.
Cesk Zadeja (1927-1997): Often described as the "father of Albanian classical music." Composer, conductor, and music educator. First artistic director of the State Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances. His works include symphonic music, concertos, chamber works, ballets, and film scores.
Endri Sina (born 1967): Composer, arranger, and academic at the University of Arts, Tirana. Composed chamber music, orchestral works, stage music, and film scores including "Gjoleka, djali i Abazit" and "Bolero ne vilen e pleqve."

The domestic musical works registered at ALBAUTOR totaled 12,567 as of 2020, increasing from 10,300 in 2019.

ALBAUTOR vs Other Organizations

Feature	ALBAUTOR	AUTODIA	SIAE	HDS-ZAMP	Artisjus	MACP	OSA
Territory	Albania	Greece	Italy	Croatia	Hungary	Macedonia	Czech Republic
Rights type	Performance, dramatic, literary, AGP	Performance, mechanical	Performance, mechanical	Performance, mechanical	Performance, mechanical	Performance, mechanical	Performance, mechanical
Founded	1992	2003	1882	1949	1907	1999	1919
Overhead rate	Not disclosed	20% (perf), 11% (mech)	~10-15%	~15%	~15%	Not disclosed	~12%
Join fee	Not disclosed	Not disclosed	Varies	Varies	Varies	Varies	Varies
Distribution frequency	Periodic	2x/year	2x/year	2x/year	2x/year	Periodic	2x/year
CISAC member	Yes (provisional)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Members	421	Not disclosed	100,000+	~6,000	~7,000	Not disclosed	~10,000