gema_ANNUALREPORT 2008 (â¢)

Annual Report 

2008

Dr. Harald Heker 

Dear GEMA Members, 

Dear Readers, 

technological developments have radically altered 

the possibilities for music usage in recent years. 

Many consumers are using these new technologies, 

which has led to a big shift between the 

different types of usage. And therefore, as was 

anticipated, music usage on the Internet in 2008 

has noticeably increased once again. The copyright 

holders, however, are still not receiving their 

sufficient share at all; on the contrary, there is 

only a rudimentary positive development in the 

legal music download segment. In order to ensure 

that music authors receive adequate compensation 

for the use of their works also in the digital 

age, GEMA has initiated a number of actions. 

These include international cooperations, such as 

the one with CELAS GmbH, and also negotiations, 

arbitrations, and lawsuits. It is also GEMA's goal 

to make it easy for providers of online platforms 

to purchase rights, and in doing so to encourage 

innovative usage models in this market. 

The persistent declining developments in the 

market of sound recordings – the national as well 

as international market – continued in 2008, which 

resulted in noticeably less licensing income for 

GEMA. In the area of radio and television, the 

lengthy negotiations on follow-up contracts with 

regional cable television companies led to an 

agreement in 2008. That is why supplementary 

payments from the last years in which the 

negotiations were still being conducted could be 

figured into the balance sheet of 2008. In the 

regional offices the proceeds in 2008 remained 

more or less constant in comparison to the 

previous years. In total, GEMA had income of €823 

million in 2008, of which approximately €160 

million was from collecting for other collecting 

3 

agencies. This is €26.6 million less than the 

previous year, whereas the sum for distribution 

also decreased to €700.6 million. The predictions 

for 2009 are that the trends of the last years will 

continue, especially in regard to the persistent 

decline in sales and turnover figures in the sound 

recordings market – particularly in a year marked 

by the global economic and financial crisis. This 

will affect the income situation at GEMA, especially 

as the decline in traditional sound recordings will 

assumedly, as previously, not be compensated for 

by usage in the areas of online and mobile 

technologies. 

In view of the general economic conditions and 

the technological developments it is even more 

important to illustrate and emphasize the value 

of music in the general public's mind and how 

important the authors' creative efforts are for our 

society and culture. For the creative powers of 

music authors, unified in GEMA, is an indispensable 

component of life in Germany. GEMA is 

working to make the general public more aware 

of their cultural identity, and to make it clear that 

GEMA is working to preserve the value of music 

by protecting its cultural and socio-political 

aspects. In so doing, GEMA is contributing to 

ensuring the financial foundation for its members' 

creative and published work – also in a changing 

environment. 

Sincerely, 

Harald Heker

Table of Contents 

Foreword 3 

At a Glance 5 

Deceased Members 6 

Honorary Members 7 

Honorary Presidents 7 

Executive Board 8 

Organizational Chart of GEMA 9 

General Administration and Regional Offices of GEMA 10 

Board of Supervisors 11 

Committees and Boards 12 

GEMA Social Security Fund 16 

International Organizations 17 

Report of the Executive Board 18 

4 

Management Report 19 

Income, Expenditures – Development and Structure 26 

Distribution to Members and Other Rights Owners 29 

Staff 35 

Annual Financial Statements 37 

Balance Sheet 38 

Profit and Loss Statement 43 

Appendix 44 

Independent Auditor’s Report and Verification Notice 48 

Report of the Board of Supervisors 49

At a Glance 

5 

2006 2007 2008 

(in million €) (in million €) (in million €) 

Income 874,378 849,599 823,007 

Expenditures 121,673 120,291 122,357 

Distribution Sum 752,705 729,308 700,650 

Cost Rate 13,9 % 14,2 % 14,9 % 

Breakdown of Income: 

Arranged according to rights 

Performances (live music, recorded music, 

films) and broadcast rights 396,886 399,086 402,208 

Reproduction rights 201,488 206,189 193,389 

– from sound storage media licenses 102,471 94,490 85,094 

– from other areas 99,017 111,699 108,295 

Royalty entitlements 41,638 41,318 30,223 

Mandates for collection 207,336 167,613 159,719 

– from central licensing of sound 

storage media and audio-visual media 119,971 94,809 72,099 

– from other collecting societies 87,365 72,804 87,620 

Other income 27,030 35,393 37,468 

874,378 849,599 823,007 

Arranged according to area 

Live Music 79,212 82,999 80,929 

Soundtracks 8,657 8,131 8,391 

Mechanical Music 119,351 121,964 122,420 

Royalty entitlements according to 

Paragraph 27, Copyright Act 6,703 6,669 6,019 

Reproduction of sound storage 

media and audio-visual media 240,609 220,585 186,758 

Mandates for Collection 

for other collecting societies 52,786 51,333 52,151 

Royalty entitlements according to 

Paragraph 54, Copyright Act 34,935 34,649 24,204 

Radio and Television 245,015 224,878 241,457 

Foreign Countries 60,080 62,998 63,210 

Other income 27,030 35,393 37,468 

Breakdown of Expenses: 

874,378 849,599 823,007 

Human resources expenses 66,750 65,473 65,179 

Material expenses 54,923 54,818 57,178 

121,673 120,291 122,357

Ismael Moses Abd’allah 

Freduah Agyemang 

Manfred Angster 

Karl Peter Aschberger 

Hans Backe-Billian 

Heinrich Leopold Balzer 

Frank Michael Beyer 

Siegfried Bimberg 

Herbert Binder 

Karl Alfred Blass 

Theo Blum 

Werner Bockelmann 

Baldur Böhme 

Jörg Bohlmann 

Earl Bostic-Stanley 

Dieter Brauer 

Christel Braun 

Freddy Breck 

Jolyon Brettingham Smith 

Günter Brücker 

Eduard Brumund-Ruether 

Jacob Bürthel 

Lutz Büscher 

Christian Buss 

Gary Kenneth Chambers 

Claudius Cojocar 

Wilhelm Leopold Conrad 

Osman Dagli 

Gisela Dahlbender 

Friedhelm Dies 

Kurt Demmler 

Rainer Diezinger 

Klaus J. P. Dinger 

Colin Dunwoodie 

Hans-Jochen Dyck 

Hans-Karl Eberhardt 

Julius Ebers 

Max Eham 

Walter Alfons Eisele 

Prof. Dietrich Erdmann 

Stan Feast 

Oliver Patrik Felkel 

Klaus-Ewald Fischbach 

Hermann-Josef Fischer 

Arno Flor 

Lutz Franck 

Axel Frank 

Günter Fredrich 

Adolf Frey-Völlen 

Claus-Peter Fürstenberg 

Hans Fuhrmann 

Fryderyk Gabowicz 

Steven Garling 

Heinz Geese 

In memory of our members 

who passed away 

Maria Gerdes 

Margot Gerth 

Peter Gläser 

Peter Gleichauf 

Joachim Gocht 

Joachim Goroncy 

Wolfgang Gottschalk 

André Greiner-Pol jr. 

Heinz Greul 

Dieter Wolf Grossmann 

Günther Gürsch 

Ernst Wilhelm Haase 

Sebastian Hackert 

Josef Hastreiter 

Klemens Heinen 

Klaus-Uwe Hentschel 

Thomas Hergert 

Hans Herrmann-Müller 

Renate Herzog 

Falk Axel Heynhold 

Hans-Dieter Hofmann 

Walter Homolka 

Werner Homuth 

Günter Hörig 

Heinz Houben 

Erwin Hovorka 

Heinz Igel 

Conny Jackel 

Ulrich Jäger 

Hermann Johannes Jedowski 

Karl-Heinz Jung 

Lambertus Bernardus de Jonge 

Horst Jüssen 

Erwin Kabus 

Armin Kämpf 

Mauricio Kagel 

Volker Kahrs 

Nick D. Kalcher 

Volker Kasper 

Thomas James Kempkes 

Erich Kenfenheuer 

Janos Pal Kereszti 

Wolfgang Kischka 

Dieter Klarholz 

Michael Heinrich Klaus 

Georg Kleinebreil 

Walter Michael Klepper 

Bernd Klösgen 

Elfi Kluth 

Günter Kochan 

Johann Kocur 

Hugo Köhler 

Hildegard König 

Bernhard Kohles 

6 

Karl-Hans Kohout 

Stefan Kokaly 

Gerhard Konzelmann 

Jochen Krämer 

Bernd M. Krause 

Philipp Kronhofer 

Werner Krützfeldt 

Walter Kubiczeck 

Heinz Kutta 

Ernst Kutzer 

Theodor Kwiotek 

Alice Levin 

Alicia Levy 

Rudi Listl 

Karl Heinz Loges 

Ingo Lorenz 

Michael Lorz 

Thomas Lück 

Thomas Egon Martin 

Peter Matthäus 

Alfred Meiers 

Frank Thomas Meyer-Thurn 

Patricia A. Miller 

Lydia Mohr 

Helmut Josef Müller 

Simon Müller 

Andreas Muntschick 

Johannes Muntschick 

Heinz Neumann 

Günter Ohliger 

Ralf Osburg 

Heinrich Ost 

Claus Manfred Otto 

Paul Peters 

Jochen Petersdorf 

Wolfgang Pfister 

Manfred Pieper 

Heinrich Podzielny 

Egon A. von Preyss 

Eberhard Rebling 

Peter Regler 

Hermann Regner 

Franz Reithmeier 

Thilo Rex 

Werner Richter 

M. E. de Ries 

Andreas Römer 

Wolf-Ingo Römer 

Lothar Rössler 

Ernst-Günter Rosenetzki 

Karl-Heinz Rothert 

Robert Andreas Rückerl 

Malte Rühmann 

Werner Sagert 

Ilkan San 

Hans Sanders 

Isolde Schallmo-Motsch 

Peter Schaper 

Johannes Walter Scharf 

Magdalene Schauss-Flake 

Susanne Schibilsky 

Walter Schindler 

Franz Ferenc Schlosser 

Heinz-Günter Schneider 

Katharina Schneider 

Manfred Schneider 

Heinz Schnell 

Friedrich Scholz 

Winand Schoop 

Werner Schrader 

Hans-Joachim Schroer 

Axel Schulz 

Hans-Joachim Schulze 

Peter Seeger 

Kriemhild Seuss 

Giorgio Sgarbi 

Oskar Sigmund 

Erik Silvester 

Laurent Simonetti 

Klaus Sonnenburg 

Lutz Frank Sowada 

Christian Spindler 

Peter Steiner 

Walter Stephan 

Aurel Stroe 

Rosanna Tavares 

Trevor Oliver Taylor 

Werner Thärichen 

Manfred Thieke 

Eugen Thomass 

Arkadi Tomtschin 

Peter Thöne 

Klaus Überall 

Maxim Vaks 

Kalman Vörös 

Wolfgang Wallroth 

Oskar Wanderer 

Monville Waters 

Peter Wehrspann 

Klaus Weiss 

G. Gotthard Welker 

Hermann Rudger Wellmer 

Parthenia Wilson 

Volker Wintermeyer 

Konrad Wolf 

Richard Wreden 

Klaus Zirwes 

Hans-Rudolf Zöbeley

Honorary Members 

Prof. Harald Banter 

Prof. Jürg Baur 

Prof. Christian Bruhn 

Klaus Doldinger 

Dr. Peter Hanser-Strecker 

Hans Hee 

Karl-Heinz Klempnow 

Prof. Dr. Hans Wilfred Sikorski 

Prof. Karl Heinz Wahren 

Hartmut Westphal 

Bruno Balz (deceased) 

Richard Bars (deceased) 

Prof. Werner Egk (deceased) 

Dr. Hans Gerig (deceased) 

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Joseph Haas (deceased) 

Kurt Hertha (deceased) 

Heinz Korn (deceased) 

Peter Jona Korn (deceased) 

Eduard Künneke (deceased) 

Dr. Willy Richartz (deceased) 

Prof. Dr. Georg Schumann (deceased) 

Günther Schwenn (deceased) 

Dr. Hans Sikorski (deceased) 

Dr. Dr. h. c. Ludwig Strecker (deceased) 

Honorary Presidents 

Prof. Dr. Reinhold Kreile 

Prof. Dr. jur. h. c. Erich Schulze 

7

Executive Board 

President and Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Harald Heker 

Vice President: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Becker 

Member of the Executive Board 

Chief Financial Officer: Dipl.-Oec. Rainer Hilpert 


8 

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Becker Dipl.-Oec. Rainer Hilpert

Fields of Activities and 

Responsibilities 

of the Executive Board 

Organizational Chart 

of GEMA (as of December 31, 2008) 

Executive Board 

9 

Auditing and Computer Auditing 

Development 

of Online 

Business Areas 

General Assembly 

Department 

Field Staff and 

Regional Offices 

Department 

Documentation 

Board of Supervisors 

Legal Department 

Department 

Industry 

Social Security Fund 

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Becker 

Department 

Field Staff 

Bookkeeping 


Department 

Distribution I 

Department 

Distribution II/ 

International 

Affairs 

Department 

Mandates for 

Collection 

Dipl.-Oec. Rainer Hilpert 

Department 

Members/ 

Accounting 

Members 

Committees 

Department 

Finances and 

Accounting 

Public Relations Department 

EU Liaison Office 

Music Services 

Department 

Marketing 

Department 

Human 

Resources 

Department 

Radio, Television 

and New Media 

General Administration 

GEMA Social 

Security Fund 

Board of Trustees 

IT Department 

and Organization

General Administration and 

Regional Offices of GEMA 

GEMA-General 

Administration 

Head Office in Berlin 

Bayreuther Strasse 37 

10787 Berlin 

P.O. box 30 12 40 

10722 Berlin 

Tel.: +49 30 21245-00 

Fax: +49 30 21245-950 

E-Mail: gema@gema.de 

Head Office in Munich 

Rosenheimer Strasse 11 

81667 Munich 

P.O. box 80 07 67 

81607 Munich 

Tel.: +49 89 48003-00 

Fax: +49 89 48003-969 

E-Mail: gema@gema.de 

GEMA-Regional 

Offices 

Regional Office in Augsburg 

Stettenstrasse 6/8 

86150 Augsburg 

P.O. box 10 17 07 

86007 Augsburg 

Tel.: +49 821 50308-0 

Fax: +49 821 50308-88 

E-Mail: bd-a@gema.de 

Regional Office in Berlin 

Keithstrasse 7 

10787 Berlin 

P.O. box 30 34 30 

10728 Berlin 

Tel.: +49 30 21292-0 

Fax: +49 30 21292-795 

E-Mail: bd-b@gema.de 

10 

Regional Office in Dresden 

Zittauer Strasse 31 

01099 Dresden 

Subject area Sachsen: 

Tel.: +49 351 8184-610 

Subject area Sachsen-Anhalt: 

Tel.: +49 351 8184-620 

Subject area Thüringen: 

Tel.: +49 351 8184-630 

For all subject areas: 

Fax: +49 351 8184-700 

E-Mail: bd-dd@gema.de 

Regional Office in Hamburg 

Schierenberg 66 

22145 Hamburg 

P.O. box 73 03 60 

22123 Hamburg 

Tel.: +49 40 679093-0 

Fax: +49 40 679093-11 

E-Mail: bd-hh@gema.de 

Regional Office in Hannover 

Blücherstrasse 6 

30175 Hannover 

P.O. box 21 29 

30021 Hannover 

Tel.: +49 511 2838-0 

Fax: +49 511 8174 10 

E-Mail: bd-h@gema.de 

Regional Office in Munich 


81667 München 

P.O. box 80 06 20 

81606 Munich 

Tel.: +49 89 48003-01 

Fax: +49 89 48003-940 

E-Mail: bd-m@gema.de 

Regional Office in 

North Rhine-Westphalia 

Südwall 17-19 

44137 Dortmund 

P.O. box 10 13 43 

44013 Dortmund 

Tel.: +49 231 57701-0 

Fax: +49 231 57701-120 

E-Mail: bd-nrw@gema.de 

Regional Office in Nuremberg 

Johannisstrasse 1 

90419 Nuremberg 

P.O. box 91 05 49 

90263 Nuremberg 

Subject area Oberpfalz/ 

Mittelfranken: 

Tel.: +49 911 93359-291 

Fax: +49 911 93359-252 

Subject area Ober- und 

Unterfranken: 

Tel.: +49 911 93359-290 

Fax: +49 911 93359-253 

E-Mail: bd-n@gema.de 

Regional Office in Stuttgart 

Herdweg 63 

70174 Stuttgart 

P.O. box 10 17 53 

70015 Stuttgart 

Tel.: +49 711 2252-6 

Fax: +49 711 2252-800 

E-Mail: bd-s@gema.de 

Regional Office in Wiesbaden 

Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 20 

65189 Wiesbaden 

P.O. box 26 80 

65016 Wiesbaden 

Tel.: +49 611 7905-0 

Fax: +49 611 7905-197 

E-Mail: bd-wi@gema.de


Frank Dostal 


Board of Supervisors 

Chairman: Prof. Christian Bruhn 

Vice Chairman: Frank Dostal 


11 

Burkhard Brozat 

Prof. Dr. Rolf Budde 


Peter Ende (until Oct. 31, 2008) 

Jörg Evers 

Egon L. Frauenberger 

Dr. Peter Hanser-Strecker (as of Nov. 1, 2008) 

Prof. Klaus-Michael Karnstedt 

Prof. Dr. Enjott Schneider 

Dagmar R. Sikorski 

Prof. Lothar Voigtländer 

Stefan Waggershausen 

Dr. Ralf Weigand 

Deputies: Dr. Peter Hanser-Strecker (until Oct. 31, 2008) 

Frank Ramond 

Prof. Dr. h. c. Wolfgang Rihm 

Prof. Manfred Schoof 

Gabriele Schulze-Spahr 

Patrick Strauch (as of Nov. 1, 2008) 

Hans-Ulrich Weigel 

Legal Advisor: Prof. Dr. Karl Riesenhuber

Committees 

Financial Committee Prof. Christian Bruhn 

Frank Dostal 


Dr. Peter Hanser-Strecker 


Dagmar R. Sikorski (as of Nov. 1, 2008) 


Tariff Committee 

Program Committee 

Statutory Committee 

Distribution Plans 

Committee 

Burkhard Brozat � Specialist: 

Prof. Christian Bruhn Peter Ende (until Oct. 31, 2008) 

Frank Dostal 

Jörg Evers 



� Subcommittee Serious Music: � Deputy: 

Dr. Peter Hanser-Strecker Prof. Manfred Schoof 

Prof. Dr. Enjott Schneider � Specialists: 

Dagmar R. Sikorski Winfried Jacobs 

Prof. Lothar Voigtländer Prof. Georg Katzer 

Prof. Karl Heinz Wahren 

� Subcommittee Light/Popular Music: � Specialist: 

Prof. Christian Bruhn Prof. Harald Banter 

Jörg Evers 








� Composers: � Representatives of Composers: 

Jörg Evers Prof. Dr. h. c. Wolfgang Rihm 

Prof. Dr. Enjott Schneider Prof. Lothar Voigtländer 


� Lyricists: � Representative of Lyricists: 

Frank Dostal Egon L. Frauenberger 


� Publishers: � Representatives of Publishers: 

Prof. Dr. Rolf Budde Peter Ende (until Oct. 31, 2008) 

Dr. Peter Hanser-Strecker Dagmar R. Sikorski 

� Specialists: 

Prof. Harald Banter 


12

Committee for the Rating 

procedures of the Composers 

in the category Serious Music 


procedures of the Lyricists 



procedures of the Publishers 



procedures of the category 

Light and Dance Music 

Werner Heider � Deputies: 

Prof. Dr. h. c. Robert M. Helmschrott Prof. Manfred Trojahn 

Prof. Martin Christoph Redel Helmut Zapf 

� Deputies for Choir Music: � For Choir Music: 

Prof. Karl Haus Wolfgang Lüderitz 

Gerhard Rabe Dr. Rudolf Lukowsky 

� Delegate for associate Members � Delegate of the Board of Supervisors: 

and affiliated Members: Prof. Dr. Enjott Schneider 

Peter Helmut Lang 

Michael Holm � Deputies: 

Erich Offierowski Norbert Hammerschmidt 

Carl J. Schäuble Robert Jung 

Klaus Pelizaeus 

� Delegates for Special Members � Delegate of the Board: 

and Associated Members: Stefan Waggershausen 

Heiner Tietze 

Stefan Conradi � Deputy: 

Horst Schubert Dr. Reinhold Quandt 

� Delegate of the Board of Supervisors: 



Thorsten Brötzmann Heinz Ehme 

Dr. Rainer Fabich Peter Finger 

Michael Reinecke Ladislav Geisler 

� Lyricists: � Representatives of Lyricists: 

Michael Holm Norbert Hammerschmidt 

Erich Offierowski Robert Jung 

Carl J. Schäuble Klaus Pelizaeus 


Suzy Frauenberger Barbara Krämer 

Pamela Georgi-Michel Hans Peter Malten 

Michael Wewiasinski Dr. Axel Sikorski 

13

Assessment Committee 

of the Arangers 

Works Committee 

Delegates of associate and Delegates of the Board of Supervisors: 

affiliated Members: 

� Composers: � Composers: 

Ole Seelenmeyer Dr. Ralf Weigand 

� Lyricists: � Lyricists: 

Heiner Tietze Stefan Waggershausen 

� Publishers: � Publishers: 

Karin Wirthmann Karl-Heinz Klempnow 

Raimond Erbe � Deputies: 

Jo Plée Bertram Gebauer 

Prof. Wieland Reissmann Ladislav Geisler 

Joachim Schmeißer Thomas Rebensburg 

Werner Theisen 



� Deputy: 

Jörg Evers 


Prof. Theo Brandmüller Moritz Eggert 

Ernst-August Quelle Prof. Martin Christoph Redel 

Dieter Reith Alexander von Schlippenbach 

Prof. Bernd Wefelmeyer Jochen Schmidt-Hambrock 

� Lyricists: � Representatives of Lyricists: 

Erich Offierowski Edith Jeske 

Carl J. Schäuble Robert Jung 


Jan Rolf Müller Stefan Conradi 

14 



� Deputy: 

Prof. Lothar Voigtländer

Admission Committees � Composers: � Representative of Composers: 

Prof. Georg Katzer Helmut Zapf 

Prof. Bernd Wefelmeyer 

Church Music Committee 

Complaint Committee 

� Lyricists: � Representative of Lyricists: 

Robert Jung Michael Reincke 

Erich Offierowski 

� Publishers: � Representative of Publishers: 

Andreas Meurer Peter Tonger 

Michael Wewiasinski 

Prof. Theo Brandmüller � Specialist: 

Dr. Johannes Graulich Prof. Dr. Enjott Schneider 

Prof. Dr. h. c. Robert M. Helmschrott 

Friedemann Strube 

� Chairman: � Vice Chairwoman: 

Christel Hengst Christel Hengst 

(former presiding judge of the (former presiding judge of the 

Regional Superior Court of Berlin) Regional Superior Court of Berlin) 

(as of Oct. 10, 2008) (until Oct. 10, 2008) 

Dieter Jalowietzki 

(former presiding judge 

of the Superior Court) 

(until Oct. 10, 2008) 

Representatives of Professional Groups: 

� Composers: � Deputy Representative of Composers: 

Hartmut Westphal Prof. Harald Banter 

� Lyricists: � Deputy Representative of Lyricists: 

Michael Arends Klaus Pelizaeus 

� Publishers: � Deputy Representative of Publishers: 

Heinz Kremer Volker Landtag 

15 

� Specialist: 

Wolfgang Brandenstein

GEMA Social Security Fund 

� Composer Department: 

Hartmut Westphal Managing Director and Curator 

Ralf Hoyer 

Wilhelm Dieter Siebert 

� Lyricist Department: 

Erich Offierowski Managing Director and Curator 

Wolfgang Brandenstein 

Klaus Pelizaeus 

� Publisher Department: 

Andreas Meurer Managing Director and Curator 


Thomas Tietze 

16

CISAC 

Confédération Internationale 

des Sociétés d’Auteurs 

et Compositeurs, Paris 

BIEM 

Bureau International des Sociétés 

gérant les Droits d’Enregistrement 

et de Reproduction Mécanique, Paris 

GESAC 

Groupement Européen des Sociétés 

d’Auteurs et Compositeurs, Brussel 

International Organizations 

German Member of the 

Executive Board: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Becker 

German Member of the International 

Council of Authors and Composers: Jörg Evers 

German Member of the 

Legal Committee: Dr. Stefan Müller 

Member of the Common Information 

System Supervisory Board (CSB): Georg Oeller 

Honoraray Presidents: Prof. Dr. Reinhold Kreile 

Prof. Dr. jur. h. c. Erich Schulze 

Prof. Dr. Hans Wilfred Sikorski 

President of the Executive Board: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Becker 

Vice President of the General Assembly: Karl-Heinz Klempnow 

German Delegates for the 

General Assembly: Prof. Christian Bruhn 

Frank Dostal 

Vice President: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Becker 

17

Report of the Executive Board 

Management Report 

Income, Expenditures – 

Development and Structure 

Distribution to the Members 

and Other Rights Owners 

Staff 

18

Status Report 

1. Business Development in 2008 

1.1. The overall development in 2008 was marked 

by a constant weakening of the markets, which 

ended in a global economic and financial crisis 

following the insolvency in mid-September 2008 

of the big bank Lehman Brothers in the U.S. The 

results were strong reductions in Germany as well, 

in particular during the last months of 2008 in 

sales in the export economy and even stronger 

reductions in the number of orders. 

An on-going negative development in the 

gross national product is predicted for the year 

2009, despite the governments' massive support 

packages for the financial sector, which are flanked 

by historically low interest rates of the central 

banks in Europe, the U.S., and other industrial and 

developing countries. Currently, the weak 

economy is already affecting in particular German 

industries dependent upon exports, such as the 

automobile, chemical, and machine manufacturing 

industries. This means the positive 

development in the domestic employment market 

in 2008 has come to a standstill; the number of 

seasonal and cyclical unemployed in 2009 has 

risen again. The German government estimates 

in its 2009 annual economic report a decline of 

2.25% in the gross national product for the year 

2009. The predictions are that exports will 

decrease by 8.9%, while domestic demand will 

remain relatively stable in comparison with –0.1% 

(all figures are adjusted for price). 

On the other hand, the music industry in Germany 

and the international music industry suffered 

considerable reductions in sales and licensing 

revenues of sound recordings in 2008. GEMA's 

income in the domestic licensing as well as in the 

central licensing of sound recordings in foreign 

markets decreased considerably compared to the 

previous year, and also compared to the estimates. 

The radio and television division, on the other 

hand, was able to reach a slight increase in income 

due to the increase in the installment payments 

by the cable companies to 80% compared to the 

previously paid amounts (in 2007 installment 

payments were 60%). An agreement on the 

essential points in the new contract was reached 

at the end of 2008; it is expected that the contract 

will be signed in March or April 2009; the contract 

19 

safeguards the earlier reimbursement from the 

financial year 2007 and includes an increase in 

the total income for copyright holders in the 

financial year 2008. 

The provision on the regulation of copyrights 

in an information society (“Korb 2” – the so-called 

“second basket”), which went into effect on 

January 1, 2008, resulted in a large number of 

contract partners of ZPÜ (Zentralstelle für private 

Überspielungsrechte: Central Organization for 

Private Recording Rights, Munich) cancelling their 

contracts with ZPÜ effective December 31, 2007. 

Despite intensive negotiations in 2008, a new 

contract was not signed and a lengthy legal battle 

is likely. During the first half of 2008 ZPÜ was able 

to collect the compensation for the accounting 

period of the second half of 2007; the considerable 

reduction in the contract partners' payments in 

the second half of the year led to a considerable 

decrease in the portion of the ZPÜ income as well 

as GEMA's portion of this income (2007: €34.6 

million; 2008: €24.2 million). 

The sound recordings market has been weak 

since the late 1990s, and it continued to be 

substantially weak during the financial year 2008. 

At the regional offices there was a slight decrease 

to €286.1 million (–€1 million) in comparison to 

the relatively good year in 2007. The foreign 

division earned a slight increase in income to €63.2 

million (+ 0.33%) compared to 2007, which is also 

attributed to the currency exchange rate effect. 

Other income once again showed a slight increase, 

which is also due to the market-related high 

interest rates involving short-term loans in the 

first nine months of 2008. The declining income 

in the industry division (2007: €213.9 million; 

2008: €178.9 million) reflected the market 

developments domestically and internationally, 

marked by the increase in music usage via the 

Internet and declining revenues in sound 

recordings. 

Due to the aforementioned developments, 

GEMA's total income during the financial year 

2008 was €823.0 million, and therefore €26.6 

million or 3.13% below the level of the year 2007. 

This meant that the budgeted value of €803.9 

million for 2008 was slightly surpassed. GEMA's 

total expenditures in the financial year 2008 

increased by 1.72% compared to the previous year. 

Due to the declining income, however, this

esulted in a slight increase of the cost unit rates 

in the financial year 2008 from 14.2% (2007) to 

14.9%. There were no significant events after the 

accounting date. The relationship capital assets 

to working assets remained stable the last three 

years (circa 9% - 91% of the balance sheet sum). 

The development of assignments for the 

installment payments for distribution during the 

last three years runs parallel to the development 

of income. 

1.2. Income from Copyright Licenses and Royalty 

Entitlements 

Total income from the processing of copyright 

licenses and royalty entitlements was €785.539 

million in the reporting year, of which €2.802 

Income from copyright licenses 

and royalty entitlements 

20 

million is from compensation in lieu of licenses. 

The cost replacement amount of compensation 

in lieu of licenses in the amount of €2.828 million 

is listed under “other income.” The income for 

2008 of €785.539 million is €28.667 million less 

than the previous year's amount of €814.206 

million (€3.409 million of this was from 

compensation in lieu of licenses). The negotiations 

and discussions that have been taking place since 

the autumn of 2005 on follow-up contracts linked 

to the agreements that expired at the end of 2006 

with the regional cable companies resulted in an 

elementary agreement. Even if the contracts are 

still in negotiation and therefore the final level of 

compensation has not been determined yet, the 

expected supplementary payments for the year 

2007 were taken into account for the financial 

2007 2008 Difference 

(in million €) (in million €) (in million €) 

a) Income from performance, exhibition, 

broadcast and playback rights 399,086 402,208 + 3,122 

- compensation in lieu of licenses 3,409 2,802 - 0,607 

b) Income from reproduction rights 206,189 193,389 - 12,800 

c) Income from royalty entitlements 41,318 30,223 - 11,095 

- from rental and lending rights 

(according to Paragraph 27, Copyright Act) 6,669 6,019 - 0,650 

- from personal copying 

(according to Paragraph 54, Copyright Act) 34,649 24,204 - 10,445 

d) Income from power of attorney services 167,613 159,719 - 7,894 

- for other collecting societies 72,804 87,620 + 14,816 

- from central licensing of 

sound and audio-visual storage media 

(sales territory foreign countries) 94,809 72,099 - 22,710 

814,206 785,539 - 28,667

year 2008 – in addition to payments received on 

account from the regional cable companies KDG, 

Unity Media, and Kabel Baden-Württemberg. The 

income for the usage of music cable rebroadcast 

rights was €12.351 million in the year 2008 

(previous year: €7.011 million), and is included in 

the income from the administration of stage, 

performance, broadcast, and recording rights to 

the amount of €402.208 million (previous year: 

€399.086 million). The income for the year 2008 

that resulted from GEMA's function as a collecting 

service for other holders of rights was a total of 

€32.184 million (previous year: €18.243 million). 

Essentially, the holders of rights involved are the 

collecting agencies VG WORT, GVL, VG Bild-Kunst, 

AGICOA GmbH, VFF, VGF, and GÜFA. 

1.3. Income from Interest and Bonds 

The income increased by €2.749 million from 

€19.782 million to €22.531 million. This essentially 

is due to the higher market interest rates compared 

to 2007. 

1.4. Expenditures 

The development over the last two years in 

expenditures for human resources and material 

was as follows: 

Expenditures 

1.4.1. The fluctuation did not change much over 

the course of the last three years. Compared to 

the previous year, the number of employees 

increased from 1,103 to 1,133 (+3%). 

21 

2007 2008 

(in million €) (in million €) 

Human Resources 65,473 65,179 

Materials 54,818 57,178 

Total 120,291 122,357 

1.4.2. Along with comprehensive changes in the 

existing IT systems, which handle the daily 

activities and business, the reporting year 2008 

was marked by the introduction of new systems: 

AIDA: The new administration system for the 

licensing of music usage in the regional offices 

has the system name AIDA (“Anwenderorientiertes 

Informationssystem des Aussendienstes” – Userorientated 

Information System for Regional 

Offices). 

AIDA was installed and its performance 

tested in 2007. Future operators (500 employees 

in the GEMA regional offices as well as human 

resources in authorized companies) received 

training. From December 20 - 31, 2007, the data 

from the previous system was successfully migrated 

and AIDA was in operation on January 2, 

2008. 

Project AIDA/MASY: As a result of this project, 

from now on data from the AIDA-licensed and - 

programmed events will be transferred directly 

to the IT systems that process usage. This 

completed the integration of AIDA into the IT 

environment. 

Project OPERA: The newly structured data 

from AIDA was fused with information from the 

accounts receivable bookkeeping and cost 

accounting into a standardized reporting system 

called OPERA (Online Portal for Electronic 

Reporting and Analyzing). The index numbers 

fixed by this system for the GEMA regional offices 

form the first building blocks of this companywide 

index system. The multi-dimensional layers 

of data are prepared with a standard BI tool 

(arcplan). 

CELAS: The system CELAS (Centralized 

European Licensing and Administrative Services) 

for the Pan-European licensing of online forms of 

usage of the Anglo-American EMI repertoire was 

finished in late 2007. Usage information of i-Tunes 

has been processed since the beginning of 2008. 

Processing these massive amounts of data 

presented a huge challenge to the IT technology 

and IT programs, and these challenges were 

successfully managed. 

LION: As of 2008, GEMA does not have the 

rights for the Anglo-American EMI repertoire 

anymore. In order to still manage the online 

licensing in Germany, a share-based licensing

capability was created for GEMA based on the 

CELAS systems (LION: Licensing of Online Usage 

for CELAS and PAECOL [PAECOL: Pan-European 

Central Online Licensing]). By processing the usage 

data of the first half of 2008, the license invoice 

for i-Tunes was generated. 

RECH new: RECH new (Project Research) was 

put into operation in 2008 with the statement of 

accounts for the entertainment, electronic music, 

radio, and television divisions for the financial 

year 2007. The reports and data migration were 

coordinated and realized for PHO VR and the 

online divisions. The start of operations of these 

divisions will – together with a re-conceived share 

collection system – be completed in 2009. 

COI – a document management system 

(optical archive): During the reporting year the 

"license-user industry file," where all of the source 

material and documents from licensing and the 

calculation processes are stored in the industry 

division, was put into operation. The complaint 

file could also be realized and put into operation. 

2. Economic Development Forecast 

In 2009 the basic conditions in the national 

economies of Germany, the euro-zone, and also 

the U.S. and Japan are predicted to show 

continuing weak economic developments and a 

considerable reduction in the gross national 

product. In its report on the economy in 2009, the 

German government expects a 2.25% decrease in 

the actual gross national product (2008: +1.3%). 

In the music industry, a continuation of the 

trend of the last years is expected, with an ongoing 

decline in sales and turnover for sound 

recordings and a good outlook for live music. The 

increasing usage of music in the Internet and 

online markets will continue to result in authors 

receiving an insufficient share of the economic 

benefits. Through international cooperations, such 

as with CELAS GmbH, Munich, GEMA is trying to 

establish the rights of its members to receive a 

sufficient compensation in these areas through a 

multitude of negotiations, arbitration processes, 

and lawsuits. Overall, GEMA expects a continuous 

and considerable decline in income for the 

financial year 2009 as well. This is due in particular 

to the estimate of a continuous decline in domestic 

and international income in sound recordings. In 

22 

regard to income from royalty demands (ZPÜ) a 

decline is predicted due to the aforementioned 

legal problems. 

The general economic conditions for the year 

2010 will probably be marked by a continuing 

insecurity concerning the handling of the financial 

crisis. Whether there will be a further decline in 

the gross national product compared to the year 

2009 or stabilizing tendencies cannot be judged 

with any certainty. For the music industry, it can 

be assumed that the licensing of sound recordings 

will show a continuing decline in income. It can 

also be assumed that the other mainstays of 

GEMA's income will also show stagnating income 

in 2010 in comparison to the foreseeable 

development in 2009. 

There are no risks to the assets of GEMA in 

the legal developments described in the following 

section. 

3. Legal Developments 

3.1. Proceedings of the GD Competition Against 

CISAC, GEMA, and Other Collecting Agencies Due 

to Objections Regarding Regulations of Competition 

in the Reciprocal Contracts. 

On July 16, 2008, the EU Commission issued an 

injunction in the proceedings on competition 

COMP/C2/38.698 – CISAC. The commission 

primarily accuses GEMA and 23 other European 

collecting agencies of having an anti-competitive 

coordination of action in the form of reciprocal 

contracts in the online, satellite transmission, and 

cable rebroadcasting areas. The EU Commission 

sees the proof of such a forbidden coordination 

of action in the fact that in the past practically all 

of the collecting agencies transferred the 

administration of rights in foreign markets of their 

own repertoire to the respective national 

collecting agency and limited it territorially to the 

respective administration area. Those listed in the 

injunction were obligated to examine the existing 

territorial limits of the mandatory boundaries for 

the specified usage areas on a bilateral level and 

to desist from any action in the future that has 

the same or similar effect such as the prohibited 

coordination. 

GEMA, on the other hand, filed a legal 

challenge against the corresponding section of

the injunction on September 30, 2008 with the 

European Court in the first instance. The additional 

petition by GEMA to suspend the implementation 

of the injunction until the court reaches a decision 

on the main issue was dismissed on November 

14, 2008. Therefore GEMA is obligated for now to 

adhere to the injunction and follow through on 

it, and GEMA has initiated the appropriate bilateral 

negotiations with its affiliated agencies in Europe. 

The EU Commission granted GEMA an extension 

of the initially imposed 120-day deadline for 

implementation until March 15, 2009. 

3.2. The European Commission's Suggestion for 

Guidelines to Adapt Guidelines 2006/116/EG on 

the Duration of Copyright Protection and Certain 

Neighboring Copyrights 

The duration of protection for the ancillary 

copyrights of practicing artists and publishers of 

sound recordings is currently 50 years. According 

to Articles 76 and 85 of the German Copyright Act 

(UrhG), the fixed period begins fundamentally 

when the recording is published or is performed 

in public. With its suggestion dated July 16, 2008 

the EU Commission is pursuing the following 

goals: 

• The increase of the term of protection to 

95 years: As justification, the Commission essentially 

states that practicing artists start their career 

at a relatively young age, and with a 50-year 

duration of protection the recordings would no 

longer be protected toward the end of the artists' 

lives, which would result in a gap in the artists' 

income. 

• To create a unitary duration of protection 

for music compositions with lyrics by different 

authors: In the future, the duration of protection 

should end 70 years after the death of the last 

author who participated in the work, regardless 

of whether it is the lyricist or the composer. 

3.3. Green Book of the European Commission: 

“Copyrights in the Knowledge-based Economy” 

The focus of the Green Book published on July 16, 

2008 is the issue of how research material, 

scientific material, and educational material is 

reproduced and made available on the Internet 

with new technologies, and whether knowledge 

23 

in the domestic market can circulate unimpeded. 

In this regard, the EU Commission poses the 

question to the parties involved whether an 

expansion – or rather a detailed definition – of 

certain limitations that allow the usage of 

protected works without the copyholder's 

permission (for example, the exception for libraries 

and archives; the exception for the reproduction 

of works for educational and research purposes; 

the exception for physically and mentally 

challenged persons; and a possibly exception for 

contents created by users) is necessary to 

encourage the exchange of knowledge and to 

create more legal protection for copyright holders 

and users. The consultation paper also deals with 

the issue of whether the current European general 

regulations and the respective national transfer 

regulations provide adequate protection for 

intellectual property, and whether authors and 

publishers have enough incentives to produce 

electronic versions of their works and make them 

available to the general public. 

The EU Commission wants to start a debate 

with this Green Book on which strategies involving 

copyrights in areas of intensive knowledge should 

be pursued in the long term. 

3.4. Second Law on the Regulation of Copyrights 

in an Information Society (“Zweiter Korb” – the 

so-called “second basket”) 

This law, which was announced on October 26, 

2007, became effective on January 1, 2008. Details 

were reported in the status report for the financial 

year 2007. 

3.5. Law for the Improvement of the Enforcement 

of Intellectual Property Rights 

This law was announced on July 7, 2008 and 

became effective on September 1, 2008 – with 

the exception of two sections that do not concern 

copyrights. It is meant to realize the Guidelines 

2004/48/EG for preserving intellectual property 

rights, which was reported on in the status report 

for the financial year 2004. For GEMA, the new 

regulations in Article 97 and the following pages 

of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) are especially 

of interest. In this article the legislature makes it 

clear that an injunction claim corresponding to

the previous jurisdiction not only exists by the 

danger of repetitive infringement, but it also exists 

as a preemptive injunction claim when a risk of 

first infringement can be declared valid. In 

addition, henceforth the compensation claim for 

a violation of copyrights is comprehensively 

regulated in Article 97, Paragraph 2 of the German 

Copyright Act (UrhG). The three-fold calculation 

method – namely concrete damages, violator's 

profits, or license analogy – that has been in use 

in judicial rulings for a long time now was legally 

regulated. The 100% control mandate granted 

GEMA by the courts still remains possible. 

With this law the right for information on 

the origin and distribution lines of reproduced 

works that violate copyrights or other reproductions 

was also expanded. Unlike earlier laws, 

however, as of now it is not necessary that there 

is a violation of physical usage rights (reproduction 

and distribution); every violation of rights 

according to copyright laws is sufficient. A 

limitation is only allowed when there is a 

commercial dimension. 

By the way, in the area of the validity of the 

copyright law, compensation claims for attorney 

fees in a simple case with an insignificant violation 

of the law were limited to €100. In Article 10 of 

the German Copyright Act (UrhG), the presumption 

of possession of copyrights was extended to 

the holder of exclusive usage rights. 

3.6. Sixth Law to adapt the Copyright Law 

This law, which went into effect on December 11, 

2008, extended the validity period of Article 52a 

of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) (also known 

as the “Internet Articles”) by four years, up to and 

including December 31, 2012. The regulation 

allows certain educational and research institutions 

to provide public access to copyright 

protected works and sections of these works to a 

limited group of persons, for example, by posting 

such works on their own Intranet. 

3.7. Jurisdiction 

3.7.1. Federal Supreme Court 

a) The question of what constitutes a stage 

performance and therefore involves rights 

pertaining to a stage performance was the subject 

24 

of a judicial case in front of the Federal Supreme 

Court. In its decision on July 3, 2008, under the 

reference number I ZR 204/05, the court set the 

following guiding principles: 

“... A stage performance in the sense of Article 

19, Paragraph 2, Clause 2 of the German Copyright 

Act (UrhG), is given in every case where intellectual 

contents are presented to be seen or heard by 

means of a certain animated performance in a 

space. The sole prerequisite for a portrayal of 

intellectual contents is not only that a mere 

impression of non-related plot elements are 

strung together, but rather that a meaningful 

plotline can be recognized. 

... It is a stage performance of a copyright 

protected work when the intellectual contents of 

the performed work are conveyed to the audience 

by means of movement. In so far, it is not required 

that the entire plotline of the performed work or 

at least major parts of it are conveyed, but rather 

it is sufficient when the intellectual contents of 

a section of this work can be recognized.” 

b) With its judgment on December 18, 2008, 

reference number I ZR 23/06, the Federal Supreme 

Court decided the issue of whether a provider of 

cellphone ring tones also requires permission 

from the copyright holder in addition to the 

customary usage rights as administered by GEMA, 

because the rearrangement or processing of the 

work into a cellphone ring tone affects personal 

rights. According to the Federal Supreme Court's 

opinion, this additional permission is not required 

when a music work is transformed into a ring 

tone in such a manner that was customary and 

foreseeable in the granting of usage rights. In 

addition, the Federal Supreme Court decided that 

beneficiaries who signed authorization contracts 

with GEMA in the contract versions written during 

the general meeting on June 25 – 26, 2002 and in 

later contract versions granted GEMA all of the 

rights required to use their works as cellphone 

ring tones. On the other hand, the Federal 

Supreme Court is of the opinion that the granting 

of these rights in earlier versions of these 

authorization contracts is not effective. 

c) With its decision on November 20, 2008, 

reference number I ZR 112/06, the Federal 

Supreme Court decided that an electronically 

copied, approxi-mately two-second rhythm

sequence that is integrated into another work can 

violate the rights of the sound recording publisher. 

According to Article 85, Paragraph 1 of the 

German Copyright Act (UrhG), the economic, 

organizational, and technical services of the music 

publisher that are necessary to arrange the melody 

on the sound recording are protected. As the music 

publisher provides the entrepreneurial service for 

the entire sound recording, basically there is no 

part of the sound recording that is not included 

in these expenses and therefore would not be 

protected. 

3.7.2. Regional Appeal Court Celle 

In a decision on April 2, 2008, the Regional Appeal 

Court ruled that the prerequisite for the 

suspension of proceedings according to Article 

16, Paragraph 2, Claus 2 of the Law on the Administration 

of Copyright and Neighboring Rights 

(UrhWG) (“appeal to the arbitration board”) is a 

substantiated challenge to the sum demanded 

by the collecting agency. General arguments 

against the applied cost unit rate are not enough 

by themselves to determine whether the 

reprimand is appropriate. On the contrary, this 

must be argued individually, and there must be 

concrete evidence as to why the demand is not 

appropriate. 

3.7.3. Regional Court Mannheim 

On August 25, 2008 the Regional Court Mannheim 

issued an injunction against a download provider 

as well as an European collecting agency. The 

collecting agency had granted the download 

provider a Pan-European license, which was also 

meant to include online usage of the GEMA 

repertoire in Germany. In doing so, the Regional 

Court Mannheim confirmed the standpoint of 

GEMA that it was not legally possible for the 

collecting agency to license such usage, as GEMA 

had granted the collecting agency as part of their 

reciprocal contract only the right to license usage 

within the collecting agency's own territory. In 

the injunction the download provider was 

therefore forbidden to make certain works in 

GEMA's music repertoire accessible on the Internet 

in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany 

without prior permission from GEMA. The 

collecting agency was forbidden to provide such 

25 

a licensing. After the collecting agency filed an 

objection, the Regional Court Mannheim 

confirmed its injunction with its decision on 

November 7, 2008. In its decision it expressively 

stated that the territorial borders in the existing 

reciprocal contract between GEMA and the 

collecting agency did not become invalid by the 

abovementioned injunction by the EU Commission 

on July 16, 2008. The decision is final and cannot 

be appealed. 

3.7.4. Arbitration Board 

a) To calculate the compensation for the use of 

music works during so-called city and street 

festivals, GEMA had previously based its 

calculations on the respective total number of 

visitors. In several decisions the arbitration board 

has now determined that this type of calculation 

is only to be applied when the total number of 

visitors can be determined exactly, for example, 

in cases when the festival uses barricades and 

charges entrance fees. In cases where the number 

of visitors cannot be determined exactly, according 

to the arbitration board's decision the appropriate 

compensation is to be calculated based on the 

event's total surface area. 

b) In a decision on December 1, 2008, the arbitration 

board determined that in a collecting 

agency's cost unit rate there cannot be a 

compensation included in the interests of 

broadcasting companies when the broadcasting 

companies did not transfer the rights for cable 

rebroadcast to a collecting agency. The reason 

given is that in such cases Article 87, Paragraph 5 

of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) prescribes a 

reciprocal obligation on the part of broadcasting 

companies and cable companies to sign a contract; 

in other words, there is no obligation to determine 

or accept appropriate conditions according to the 

fundamentals of cost unit rates.

Distribution of the Income 

in Expenditures and 

Distribution Sum 

Income, Expenditures – 


€ Mio. 

800 

700 

600 

500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

0 

26 

14,8% 

85,2% 

Income 

Expenditures 

Distribution Sum 

14,6% 

85,4% 

14,5% 

85,5% 

14,6% 

85,4% 

14,7% 

85,3% 

14,4% 

85,6% 

14,1% 

85,9% 

13,9% 

86,1% 

14,2% 

85,8% 

14,9% 

85,1% 

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

(in € million) (in € million) (in € million) (in € million) (in € million) (in € million) (in € million) (in € million) (in € million) (in € million) 

Income 774,4 801,4 810,5 812,5 813,6 806,2 852,2 874,4 849,6 823,0 

Expenditures 114,9 116,9 117,9 118,7 119,4 116,0 120,3 121,7 120,3 122,4 

Distribution Sum 659,5 684,5 692,6 693,8 694,2 690,2 731,9 752,7 729,3 700,6 

Cost Rate 14,8 % 14,6 % 14,5 % 14,6 % 14,7 % 14,4 % 14,1 % 13,9 % 14,2 % 14,9 %

Radio and Television 29,34 % 

€ 241,457 million 

[a] Radio and Television 

Broadcasting and Cable 

Rebroadcast Rights, 25,03 % 

Reproduction Rights € 205,988 million 

[b] Mandates for Collection 3,91 % 

Redirecting to Cable € 32,184 million 

Mandates for Collection Regional 0,29 % 

Television Commercials € 2,350 million 

Commercials Mandates for Collection 0,11 % 

Europe I € 0,935 million 

Mechanical Music 14,88 % 

€ 122,420 million 

Live Music 9,83 % 

€ 80,929 million 

Foreign Countries 7,68 % 


Soundtracks 1,02 % 


Other Income 4,55 % 


Mandates for Collection Other 6,34 % 

Collecting Societies € 52,151 million 

Audio-Visual and Sound Storage 22,69 % 

Media Industry (in total) € 186,758 million 

[c] PHO VR 11,20 % 


BT VR 1,79 % 


[d] Online 0,15 % 

Ringtones € 1,233 million 

Other Online Income 0,79 % 


[e] Central Licensing Sales Territory 8,76 % 

Foreign Countries € 72,099 million 

Income 2008 

Royalty Entitlements according to 2,94 % 

Paragraph 54, Copyright Act € 24,204 million 

Private Copying 0,87 % 

Audio € 7,182 million 

Private Copying 2,07 % 

Video € 17,022 million 

27 

[e] 

[d] 

[a] 

[c] 

[b] 

Royalty Entitlements according to 0,73 % 

Paragraph 27, Copyright Act € 6,019 million 

Rentals and Lending 0,00 % 

Audio € 0,007 million 

Rentals and Lending 0,70 % 

Video € 5,737 million 

Library royalties 0,03 % 


Sum Total €823,007 million

Personalaufwand 53,27 % 


[a] Wages and Salaries € 49,029 million 

[b] Pension Plans € 7,226 million 

[c] Social 

Programs € 8,924 million 

Taxes 0,33 % 


Depreciations 6,09 % 


Other 40,31 % 

Expenditures € 49,326 million 

[d] Outsourced EDP € 11,998 million 

[e] Restructuring 

Measures € 1,045 million 

[f] Information and 

Communikation 

Expenditures € 6,968 million 

[g] Office Devices € 2,132 million 

[h] Incidental Costs from 

Collection Business € 13,958 million 

[i] Administration € 3,948 million 

[j] Financial Expenses € 0,135 million 

[k] Miscellaneous € 9,142 million 

Sum Total € 122,357 million 

Expenditures 2008 

28 

[k] 

[j] 

[i] 

[h] 

[g] 

[f] 

[e] 

[a] 

[d] 

[c] 

[b]

In accordance with its statues, GEMA is entrusted 

with the trustee administration of copyrights 

and is not allowed to make a profit. All of the 

income is distributed to its members and other 

rights owners after expenses are paid. The 

distribution sum is calculated as such: 

Income € 823,007 million 

- Expenditures € 122,357 million 

€ 700,650 million 

This distribution sum is assigned to the 

distribution reserves. The breakdown for the 

individual sections is as follows: 

Performances (live music, rec. music, 62,85 % 

films) and broadcasting rights € 440,316 million 

[a] Germany € 323,923 million 

[b] Foreign Countries € 41,823 million 

[c] Mandates for Collection € 74,570 million 

Europe I 0,13 % 


Reproduction Rights 37,02 % 

€ 259,398 million 

[d] Germany € 165,766 million 

[e] Foreign Countries € 19,121 million 

[f] Power of Attorney 

Collection Services € 74,511 million 

- from foreign countries € 72,050 million 

- from Germany € 2,461 million 

Distribution to Members 

and Other Rights Owners 

29 

[b] 

[c] 

[a] 

[d] 

[e] 

[f]

Legal Successors 

Publishers 

Authors 

64.000 

Members 

60.000 

58.000 

56.000 

54.000 

52.000 

50.000 

48.000 

46.000 

44.000 


of the Membership 

30 

62.888 

3.559 

4.931 

54.398 

63.752 

3.661 

4.977 

55.114 


31.12.2007 31.12.2008 

Members according to group Regular Special Associated Total Regular Special Associated Total 

Members Members Members Members Members Members 

Authors 6.263 45.622 54.398 6.198 46.177 55.114 

- including composers 2.085 2.254 

- including lyricists 428 485 

Publishers 481 280 4.170 4.931 479 271 4.227 4.977 

Legal Successors 32 9 3.518 3.559 33 9 3.619 3.661 

Total 3.026 6.552 53.310 62.888 3.251 6.478 54.023 63.752

Publishers 

Authors 

64.000 

Members 

4.000 

3.500 

3.000 

2.500 

2.000 

1.500 

1.000 

500 

0 

New Admissions of Members 

31 

2.501 

192 

2.309 

2.534 

168 

2.366 



Authors 

(Composers and Lyricists) 2.309 2.366 

Publishers 192 168 

Total 2.501 2.534 

Compared to the previous year, the total number of members increased by 864, with 2.534 new 

admissions in the year 2008. The difference is the result of cancellations of memberships and early 

withdrawal of members.

Full Members 64,71 % 

€ 208,953 million 

Associate Members 5,77 % 


Affiliated Members 22,19 % 


Legal Successors 7,33 % 


Gesamtsumme € 322,909 million 

Participation of the GEMA Members in 

2008 in the Results from the Year 2007 

32

Social and 

Cultural Payments 

For the business year 2008 a total of €60,9 million 

(previous year: €53,8 million) was set aside for 

distribution to social and cultural programs, half 

of which, namely €29,4 million (previous year: 

€29,1 million), came from the 10% deduction, and 

the other half came from interest income, administration 

fees, and other undistributable income 

from the business year 2007. 

In accordance with Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 4a 

of the Distribution Plan, the Board of Supervisors 

and Executive Board allocated the funds requested 

33 

by the Social Security Fund in the amount of 

€7,2 million (previous year: €6,6 million). From 

the remaining amount of €53,7 million (previous 

year: €47,2 million), €16,2 million (previous year: 

€14,2 million) was allocated to the rating procedures 

in the category serious music; €31,5 million (previous 

year: €27,7 million) for the rating procedures 

in the category light music; €2,3 million (previous 

year: €2,1 million) assessment procedures of the 

arrangers; and € 3,7 million (previous year: €3,2 

million) for the pension plans.

Income from 

affiliated societies 

Payments to 

affiliated societies 

Payments to special accounts 

of sub-publishing houses 

€ million 

Participation of Foreign Countries 

(inasmuch as payments to affiliated companies in foreign counties and sub-publishing houses are affected) 

200 

150 

100 

50 

0 

34 

51,460 

207,865 

104,047 

103,818 

51,857 

220,090 

112,343 

214,435 

108,079 

107,747 106,356 

52,114 

55,008 

225,195 

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

221,101 

115,986 112,771 

109,209 108,330 

55,303

Male 

Female 

Employees 

Staff 

1200 

1000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

0 

35 

1.128 1.103 

348 

780 

331 

772 

1.133 

342 

791 

2006 2007 2008 

31.12.2006 31.12.2007 31.12.2008 

Employees under contract 

for an unlimited period 

Full-time employees: Female 550 537 531 

Male 283 273 271 

833 810 802 

Part-time employees 141 143 144 

Part-time employees – semi-retired 40 30 25 

Total 1.014 983 971 

Trainees 42 41 54 

Temporary employees 72 79 108 

Total number of employees 1.128 1.103 1.133 

For educational and training purposes, 478 GEMA employees attended special seminars and other workrelated 

training sessions. 9 employees celebrated their 10-year anniversary, 19 their 25-year anniversary 

and 8 their 35-year anniversary with the company.

Annual Financial Statements 

Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2008 

(75th business year) 

Profit and Loss Statement 

for the period from January 1 – December 31, 2008 

Appendix 

Independent Auditor’s Report and Verification Notice 

37

Assets 

A. Fixed Assets 

B. Liquid Assets 

C. Deferred income 

D. Trustee Claims 



38 

As of Dec. 31, 2008 As of Dec. 31, 2007 

€ million € million € million 

I. Immaterial Assets 

1. Franchises, commercial trademarks, 

similar rights and values, as well as 

licenses on such values and rights 16,224 14,093 

2. Deposits paid 1,899 18,123 5,882 

II. Fixed Assets 

1. Properties, property-like rights and 

buildings, including buildings on 

property not owned by GEMA 49,618 50,595 

2. Other facilities, office and 

business equipment 3,395 53,013 4,344 

III. Financial Assets 

1. Shares in related companies 0,225 0,000 

2. Holdings 2,340 2,565 1,590 

73,701 76,504 

I. Loans 

to members 0,213 0,176 

II. Claims 

1. Prepayments from members 74,694 71,375 

2. Affiliated companies abroad 67,452 68,252 

3. Industry 40,194 47,661 

4. Broadcast companies 34,807 13,649 

5. Music promoters 38,245 37,833 

6. Holdings 0,549 1,542 

7. Others 16,155 272,096 14,645 

III. Bonds 92,411 174,799 

IV. Baalance at Banks 

1. Time deposits 432,492 323,860 

2. Other 4,577 437,069 4,153 

V. Cash 0,046 0,045 

801,835 757,990 

0,753 0,104 

1,913 2,214 

878,202 836,812

Liabilities 

A. Capital Resources and Reserves 

B. Reserve Funds for Distribution 

C. Other reserves 

D. Obligations 

E. Deferred Income 

F. Trustee obligations 

39 

As of Dec. 31, 2008 As of Dec. 31, 2007 

€ million € million € million 

0,000 0,000 

I. From performance (live music, 

rec. music, films), broadcast rights and 

royalty entitlements 

1. Germany 342,718 341,062 

2. Mandates for Collection 56,065 24,914 

3. Foreign countries 61,351 460,134 63,076 

II. From reproduction rights 


1. Germany 182,600 184,860 

2. Mandates for Collection 7,269 13,789 

3. Foreign countries 38,141 228,010 41,880 

688,144 669,581 

102,584 96,100 

1. From distributed royalties 

- to members 9,980 9,962 

- to affiliated foreign collecting societies 9,956 10,827 

2. From advance payments 

of music event organizers 4,634 0,338 

3. To holdings 0,000 1,000 

4. Others 59,400 83,970 45,213 

83,970 67,340 

1,591 1,577 

1,913 2,214 

878,202 836,812

Assets 

A. Fixed Assets 

I. Immaterial Assets 

1. Licenses, commercial copyrights 

and similar rights and assets, 

licenses for such rights 

and values 

2. Installments paid 

II. Tangible Assets 

1. Properties, property-like rights and 

buildings, including buildings on 

properties not owned by GEMA 

2. Other assets, operational 

and business equipment 

III. Financial Assets 

1. Shares in related companies 

2. Holdings 

Sum Total 



Purchase and production costs 

As of Jan. 1, 2008 Incoming Assets Items disposed of Transfers As of Dec. 31, 2008 

40 

€ million € million € million € million € million 

46,469 0,676 0,005 6,153 53,293 

5,882 2,170 0,000 -6,153 1,899 

52,351 2,846 0,005 0,000 55,192 

67,244 0,011 0,000 0,000 67,255 

14,859 0,812 2,597 0,000 13,074 

82,103 0,823 2,597 0,000 80,329 

0,000 0,225 0,000 0,000 0,225 

1,590 0,750 0,000 0,000 2,340 

1,590 0,975 0,000 0,000 2,565 

136,044 4,644 2,602 0,000 138,086

Accumulated Depreciations 

As of Jan. 1, 2008 Incoming Assets Items disposed of Transfers As of Dec. 31, 2008 

€ million € million € million € million € million 

32,376 4,698 0,005 0,000 37,069 

0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 

32,376 4,698 0,005 0,000 37,069 

16,649 0,988 0,000 0,000 17,637 

10,515 1,759 2,595 0,000 9,679 

27,164 2,747 2,595 0,000 27,316 

0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 

0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 

0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 

59,540 7,445 2,600 0,000 64,385 

41 

Book Value 

As of Dec. 31, 2007 As of Dec. 31, 2008 

€ million € million 

14,093 16,224 

5,882 1,899 

19,975 18,123 

50,595 49,618 

4,344 3,395 

54,939 53,013 

0,000 0,225 

1,590 2,340 

1,590 2,565 

76,504 73,701

Liabilities 

B. Reserve funds for Distribution 

B. Reserve Funds 

I. From performance (live music, 

rec. music, films), broadcast rights and 

royalty entitlements 

1. Germany 

2. Mandates for Collection 

3. Foreign countries 

II. From reproduction rights 


1. Germany 

2. Mandates for Collection 

3. Foreign countries 

III. Others 

Europe I 

Sum Total 

As of Dividends Advance Assignments As of As of 

Jan. 1, 2008 for 2007 Dividends 2008 Dec. 31, 2008 Dec. 31, 2008 

and earlier 2008 

42 

€ million € million € million € million € million € million 

341,062 315,020 7,247 323,923 342,718 

24,914 3,380 40,039 74,570 56,065 

63,076 43,548 0,000 41,823 61,351 460,134 

184,860 133,933 34,093 165,766 182,600 

13,789 12,382 68,649 74,511 7,269 

41,880 22,860 0,000 19,121 38,141 228,010 

0,000 0,000 0,936 0,936 0,000 0,000 

669,581 531,123 150,964 700,650 688,144 688,144

Profit and Loss Statement 

for the period of January 1 – 

December 31, 2008 

Appendix 2008 2007 

Nr. € million € million 

1. Income from licenses 

and royalty entitlements 12 785,539 814,206 

includes income from mandates 

for collection of €159,719 

(previous year: €167,613) 

2. Other operational income 14,937 15,611 

3. Human resources expenses 9 -65,179 -65,473 

includes 

a) Wages and salaries -49,029 -48,852 

b) Social benefits and expenses for social 

security plans and support programs -16,150 -16,621 

includes pension plan payments of €7,226 

(previous year: €6,962) 

4. Depreciations on immaterial 

assets in the fixed assets 

and tangible assets -7,445 -6,805 

5. Other operational expenses 11 -49,321 -47,544 

6. Income from bonds in the liquid assets 5,647 6,346 

7. Other interest income and similar income 16,884 13,436 

8. Interest and similar expenditures -0,005 -0,008 

9. Results from usual business activities 701,057 729,769 

10. Taxes from income and revenue 10 -0,073 -0,127 

11. Other taxes 10 -0,334 -0,334 

12. Assignments to distribution reserve funds -700,650 -729,308 

13. Surplus/Deficit for the year 0,000 0,000 

43

Appendix 

Legal Foundations 

1. The Annual Statement of Accounts 2008 was 

prepared according to the general applications of 

the commercial code. In accordance with Article 

9 of the Law on the Administration of Copyright 

and Neighboring Rights, collecting agencies are 

required to publish a balance sheet, a profit and 

loss statement, an appendix (annual financial 

statements), and a status report for the financial 

year. The peculiarities of GEMA's field of activities 

have been taken into account. 

Methods of Preparing the Balance Sheet and 

Assessment 

2. The fixed assets were applied to the purchase 

expenses and production expenses, increased by 

incidental purchase expenses, and reduced by 

depreciation in production expenses. There 

followed physical depreciations. Independent 

usable assets (excluding hardware), which cost 

€150 but not more than €1,000 to purchase or 

manufacture, were included in one compound 

item, and this sum was depreciated 

proportionately by 20%, respectively, as of the 

year of purchase or manufacture. Assets with a 

value less than €150 were already immediately 

treated as expenditures in the reporting year. 

3. The claims in own currency were balanced by 

their face value. The claims and obligations in 

foreign currency were valued according to the 

exchange rate on the account day, according to 

the highest/lowest exchange rate. Recognizable 

risks were illustrated in corresponding value 

adjustments. The assessment of the bonds was 

calculated using their nominal value, i.e., by using 

the lowest stock market rate on the account day. 

The retirement plan reserves were calculated 

based on the guideline tables 2005G by Dr. Klaus 

Heubeck. Starting in the business year 1999, the 

conveyances to the retirement plan reserves were 

limited to the volume defined by law. The 

allocation of the remaining reserves followed 

according to reasonable commercial assessments. 

Obligations were applied to the amount of 

reimbursement. 

44 

Data on the Balance Sheet Items 

4. The bond assets in the amount of €92.411 

million (previous year: €174.799 million) are 

exclusively fixed-interest securities, which are 

instruments of investment for temporary liquid 

reserves. 

5. As shown in the bookkeeping, GEMA has 

neither capital resources nor reserve funds. After 

the expenditures are paid, all of the income is 

distributed as dividends to those eligible for the 

dividends (members and other beneficiaries). 

6. The amount of €668.144 million (previous 

year: €669.581 million) is available for distribution. 

The dividends distributed in 2008 included 

€531.123 million for the previous years and 

€150.964 million for the current year, amounting 

to a total of €682.087 million. The sum assigned 

for 2008 is €700.650 million (previous year: 

€729.308 million). In principle, distribution payments 

are made only after payments are received. 

7. In the remaining reserve funds to the amount 

of €102.584 million (previous year: €96.100) there 

are essentially reserve funds for social security 

plans and similar obligations (€61.159 million); 

for the section industrial sound recordings 

(€18.285 million); for the section human resources 

expenditures (€5.734 million); for attorney and 

court costs (€1.553 million); and for the costs of 

the annual statement of accounts and tax advisors 

(€0.303 million). Reserves in the amount of €8.241 

million were acquired from claims for power of 

attorney services. This took into account that the 

payment of dividends followed after payments 

were received as a result of the claims. Reserves 

were also acquired for corrections in income in 

the area of television and film (€7.251 million). 

8. The trustee claims and trustee obligations in 

the amount of €1.913 million (previous year: 

€2.214 million) are transitory items from licensing 

sums collected by GEMA and administered in a 

trust fund until they are distributed as dividends 

to the legitimate parties, and also include security 

payments from manufacturers of sound recording 

media.

Statements on the Profit and Loss Calculations 

9. Human Resources Expenditures: 

The expenditures for social security programs 

amounted to €7.226 million (previous year: €6.962 

million), and the expenditures for social welfare 

programs amounted to €8.924 million (previous 

year: €9.659 million), for a total of €16.150 million 

(previous year: €16.621 million). The expenditures 

for social security programs can be broken down 

into pension payments of €6.708 million (previous 

year: €6.498 million), and transfers to reserve 

pensions in the amount of €0.518 million (previous 

year: €0.464 million). The number of employees 

under contract declined from 983 on December 

31, 2007, to 971 on December 31, 2008. 

10. Expenditures for Taxes: 

45 


(in € million) (in € million) 

Earnings and Wages 48,852 49,029 

Social Security Plan and 

Social Welfare Programs 16,621 16,150 

65,473 65,179 



Taxes from Income 

and Revenue 0,127 0,073 

Other Taxes 0,334 0,334 

0,461 0,407 

11. Other expenditures consist of the following: 


€ Mio. € Mio. 

Information and 

Communication 6,251 6,968 

Office Devices 1,985 2,132 

Administration 3,802 3,948 

Incidentals from 

Mandates for Collection 15,155 13,958 

Outsourced Services EDP 10,799 11,998 

Restucturing 

Measures 1,986 1,045 

Financial Expenses 0,126 0,135 

Miscellaneous 7,448 9,142 

47,552 49,326 

12. The proceeds from the rights of use and 

compensation claims were €785.539 million 

(including €2.802 million for compensation 

damages for licenses) in the financial year; in the 

previous year this was €814.206 million (including 

€3.409 million for compensation damages for 

licenses). The proceeds include the following:

46 



a) Income from Performance 

(live music, recorded music, films) 

and Broadcast Rights 399,086 402,208 

from compensation in lieu 

of licenses 3,409 2,802 

b) Income from the Administration 

of Reproduction Rights 206,189 193,389 

c) Income from Royalty Entitlements 41,318 30,223 

d) Income from Mandates 

for Collection 167,613 159,719 

Income from Licenses 

and Royalty Entitlements 814,206 785,539 

e) Other Income 35,393 37,468 

Total Income 849,599 823,007 

These income items can be broken down into the 

following individual licensing sections: 



Live Music 82,999 80,929 

Soundtracks 8,131 8,391 

Mechanical Music 

Royalty Entitlements, 

121,964 122,420 

according to Paragraph 27, Copyright Act 6,669 6,019 

Sound and Audio-visual Storage Media Industry 220,585 186,758 

Radio and Television 

Mandates for Collection 

224,878 241,457 

for Other Collecting Societies 

Royalty Entitlements, 

51,333 52,151 

according to Paragraph 54, Copyright Act 34,649 24,204 

Foreign Countries 62,998 63,210 

Other Income 35,393 37,468 

Total Income 849,599 823,007 

Income from the sound recording and video 

industry are compiled from income from the 

reproduction of sound recordings and videos, as 

well as from online income from the domestic 

sales in the amount of €114.659 million (previous 

year: €125.776 million), and from the central 

licensing for the foreign sales market in the 

amount of €72.099 million (previous year: €94.809 

million). The income from the area of radio and 

television is compiled from collecting services for 

broadcast and rebroadcast rights, as well as for 

the reproduction rights in the amount of €205.988 

million (previous year: €203.407 million) and from 

the mandate from other collecting societies (cable 

rebroadcasting, advertisements, Europe I) in the 

amount of €35.469 million (previous year: €21.471 

million). 

Supplementary Data 

13. During the reporting year the members of 

the Executive Board were: Dr. Harald Heker 

(chairman of the Executive Board), Professor 

Jürgen Becker (vice chairman of the Executive 

Board), and Rainer Hilpert (member of the 

Executive Board and in charge of finance and 

business). The annual salaries for the Executive 

Board were as follows: 

Dr. Harald Heker €379,500; Professor Jürgen 

Becker €380,100; and Rainer Hilpert €300,600. 

The pension payments to the Executive Board's 

previous members amounted to €432,100. The 

amount of €1,757,700 has been reserved for the 

pension claims of previous Executive Board 

members. The Board of Supervisors consists of 15 

members in accordance with Article 13, Paragraph 

1 of the statues of GEMA. In accordance with 

Article 13, Paragraph 1, Claus 2 of the statues, 

two deputies will be elected for each occupational 

group. The Board of Supervisors was elected 

during the general meeting on June 28, 2006. The 

election of the chairman and two vice chairmen 

was held during the Board of Supervisors' meeting 

on June 28, 2006; the chairman and two vice 

chairmen were reelected during the Board of 

Supervisors' meetings on June 28, 2007 and June 

25, 2008. Effective November 1, 2008, the 

members of the Board of Supervisors in the 

publishers' occupational group elected a 

substitute member.

Composers: 

Lyricists: 

Publishers: 

The positions on the Board of Supervisors are: 

Prof. Christian Bruhn Chairman 


Jörg Evers 


Prof. Lothar Voigtländer 


Prof. Dr. h. c. Wolfgang Rihm Deputy 

Prof. Manfred Schoof Deputy 


Frank Dostal Vice Chairman 



Frank Ramond Deputy 

Hans-Ulrich Weigel Deputy 



Dr. Peter Hanser-Strecker (until Oct. 31, 2008 Representive) 


Karl-Heinz Klempnow Vice Chairman 


Gabriele Schulze-Spahr Deputy 

Patrick Strauch Deputy 

The members of the Board of Supervisors only 

receive reimbursement for expenses. In 2008, 

these expenditures amounted to a total sum of 

€0,437 million. 

Munich, March 6, 2009 

Dr. Harald Heker Prof. Dr. Jürgen Becker Rainer Hilpert 

47 

The Executive Board

Results of the Examination 

and Verification Notice 

Based on the results of our dutiful examination 

we hereby grant the following unconditional 

verification notice, dated March 6, 2009: 

Verification Notice of the Certified Auditor 

“We have examined this annual statement of 

accounts – consisting of the balance sheet, profit 

and loss statement, as well as the appendix – 

including the bookkeeping and status report of 

the GEMA, Society for Musical Performing and 

Mechanical Reproduction Rights, Berlin, for the 

financial year from January 1 to December 31, 

2008. The bookkeeping and compilation of the 

annual statement of accounts and status report 

was done according to German commercial code 

and was the responsibility of the association's 

Executive Board. Our task is to give our judgment 

on the annual statement of accounts, based on 

the examination we conducted on the bookkeeping 

and the status report. 

We dutifully examined the annual statement of 

accounts according to Article 317 HGB and in 

adherence to the German guidelines set by the 

Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW: Institute of 

Private Auditors in Germany). According to these 

guidelines, the examination is to be planned and 

conducted so that errors and infractions that have 

a significant effect on the conveyed image of the 

asset situation, financial situation, and income 

situation in the annual statement of accounts and 

status report, following the guidelines of correct 

bookkeeping, will be recognized and identified 

with certainty. With the determination of the 

auditing procedures the information of the 

association's activities and its economic and legal 

situation, as well as the possibility of errors, are 

taken into consideration. During the course of the 

examination, the effectiveness of the in-house 

control system for the financial accounting, as 

well as documentary evidence of the statements 

48 

in the bookkeeping, annual statement of accounts, 

and status report, are evaluated chiefly on the 

basis of sample audits. The examination consists 

of the evaluation of the guidelines for compiling 

the balance sheet and the Executive Board's basic 

estimates, as well as the assessment of the overall 

depiction of the annual statement of accounts 

and the status report. We are of the opinion that 

our examination has an adequate and safe 

foundation for our judgment. 

Our examination did not result in any objections. 

According to our judgment, based on the results 

from the examination the annual statement of 

accounts adheres to legal regulations and was 

conducted according to the rules of correct 

bookkeeping, and it reflects the corresponding 

image of the actual circumstances of the 

association's asset situation, financial situation, 

and income situation. The status report is in 

agreement with the annual statement of accounts, 

and conveys a correct image of the association's 

status, and it portrays correctly the opportunities 

and risks for the future development of the 

association. 

In accordance with Article 9, Paragraph 5 of the 

Law on the Administration of Copyright and 

Neighboring Rights (UrhWG), we confirm that the 

bookkeeping, annual statement of accounts, and 

status report correspond to the law and statues.” 

Munich, March 6, 2009 

PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporation 

and Certified Auditing Company 

Winter Obermayr (per pro) 

CPA CPA

Report of the Board of Supervisors 

49

Report of the Board of Supervisors 

The Board of Supervisors held meetings on twelve 

days during the period for reporting: on March 5 

and 6; May 7 and 8; June 22 and 25; September 

25 and 26; October 15 and 16; and December 10 

and 11, 2008. In addition, the committees set up 

by the Board of Supervisors (such as the Cost Unit 

Rate Committee, the Distribution Committee, and 

the Program Committee) held regular meetings, 

and the Appraisal and Shop Committees also held 

regular meetings. During joint meetings with the 

Executive Board, the Board of Supervisors 

examined the situation of GEMA, business trends 

and business policies, based on written and oral 

reports from the Executive Board, and the Board 

of Supervisors consulted with the Executive Board 

on these issues. 

During the financial year 2008 the Business 

Committee of the Board of Supervisors held 

meetings on May 6 and December 9. The results 

of the respective meetings were reported to the 

Board of Supervisors. In addition, the Business 

Committee examined the Executive Board's 

business report for 2008 during its meeting on 

May 5, 2009, and reported on this to the Board of 

Supervisors during their meeting on May 6, 2009. 

The certified auditing company Pricewaterhouse 

Coopers Corporation of Munich examined the 

Annual Statement of Accounts 2008 that was 

prepared by the Executive Board, taking into 

account the bookkeeping and status report, and 

bestowed the unconditional verification notice, 

in the prescribed form in accordance with Article 

9, Paragraph 5 of the Law on the Administration 

of Copyrights (UrhWG), as follows: 

50 

“Based on our dutiful examination, the 

bookkeeping, annual statement of accounts, and 

status report are in accordance with the law and 

statues.” 

The Board of Supervisor discussed the certified 

auditing company's report at its meeting on May 

6, 2009, and there were no objections to the 

examination results and to the Executive Board's 

status report. The Board of Supervisors sanctions 

the annual statement of accounts, and it is hereby 

approved. During the reporting year 2009, the 

members of the Board of Supervisors were: 

in the Composer Department Professor Christian 

Bruhn, Klaus Doldinger, Jörg Evers, Professor Dr. 

Enjott Schneider, Professor Lothar Voigtländer, Dr. 

Ralf Weigand, and as deputies, Professor Wolfgang 

Rihm and Professor Manfred Schoof; in the Lyricist 

Department Burkhard Brozat, Frank Dostal, Egon 

L. Frauenberger, Stefan Waggershausen, and as 

deputies Frank Ramond and Hans-Ulrich Weigel; 

in the Publisher Department Professor Rolf Budde, 

Peter Ende (until Oct. 31), Dr. Peter Hanser-Strecker 

(as of Nov. 1), Professor Klaus-Michael Karnstedt, 

Karl-Heinz Klempnow, Dagmar R. Sikorski, and as 

deputies Dr. Peter Hanser-Strecker (until Oct. 31), 

Gabriele Schulze-Spahr, and Patrick Strauch (as of 

Nov. 1). 

Professor Christian Bruhn is chairman, and Frank 

Dostal and Karl-Heinz Klempnow are the vice 

chairmen. 

Berlin, May 6, 2009 

Professor Christian Bruhn 

Chairman of the Board of Supervisors

Copyrights: 

© Tim Pannell/Corbis (page 18) 

Stone/Getty Images (page 36/37) 

OJO Images/Getty Images (page 49)

Annual Report 

2008 

GEMA 

Association for Music Performance Rights 

and Mechanical Reproduction Rights 

Bayreuther Strasse 37 

10787 Berlin 

Germany 

Telephone +49 30 21245-00 

Fax +49 30 21245-950 


81667 Munich 

Germany 

Telephone +49 89 48003-00 

Fax +49 89 48003-969 

Internet www.gema.de 

E-Mail pr@gema.de

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