7. Rightsholder and User Issues
A. Rightsholder Issues (continued)
Reporting
Providers track usage and activity information for their own internal purposes as well as to inform rightsholders, both individually and collectively, how their intellectual property is used. Usage reports are commonly distributed to each rightsholder when royalty payments are made. Older and more established providers distribute detailed usage reports outlining the intellectual properties used, who used it, when, why, the venue of use (if relevant, as it is in the music sector), fees assessed, the provider’s share of the fee, and the rightsholder’s royalty for that use. For an individual rightsholder, these reports are the only way to objectively review the intellectual property in terms of monetary worth and relevance, and to make informed decisions about the long-term intellectual property management and creation strategy. Newer and less established providers strive to report information to rightsholders in as much detail as possible, but many are still setting up the tracking and monitoring systems required to do so. Consequently the reports issued to rightsholders by new startups may be quite sparse.
In addition to reports to individual rightsholders, providers also report information on organization-wide functions and operations in their public relations literature. This information offers insights into the volume of activity by a service provider undertaken during the course of a year, and usually appears as cumulative summaries "polished" to highlight positive (or minimize negative) performance. While public relations literature is biased toward the provider’s own interests, it can be a source of organization-wide information that outlines the provider’s performance and future directions. This literature frequently includes information on annual revenues, total royalties distributed among members, overhead costs, percentage of revenues distributed as royalties, total number of members, new licenses negotiated, and infringements currently being pursued or settled.