The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (French: Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs, CISAC) is an international non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation that aims to protect the rights and promote the interests of creators worldwide. It advocates for strong legal protection of copyright and authors' rights. It is the world's largest international network of authors' societies, also known as Collective Management Organisations (CMOs), copyright / royalty collection societies, collecting societies, or Performing Rights Organisations (PROs).
The president of CISAC is French electronic music composer Jean Michel Jarre, who was appointed in June 2013. His predecessor was singer/songwriter Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, who served as President until his death in 2012. Painter Hervé Di Rosa serving as President in the interim, until the appointment of Jarre.
In 2013, the organisation expanded its Vice Presidency to four new positions, allowing for the representation of more territories and a broader range of creative repertoires. The four new Vice Presidents include: Angélique Kidjo, a Grammy award-winning performing artist and activist from Benin, Javed Akhtar, a celebrated scriptwriter, poet, lyricist from India, Marcelo Piñeyro, an Academy Award-winning producer and film director from Argentina, and Ousmane Sow, a revered sculptor from Senegal.
Currently, 239 authors' societies from 121 countries are members of CISAC. Together, these authors' societies represent music publishers and approximately four million creators and publishers from all geographic regions and all artistic fields (music, audiovisual, drama, visual arts and literature).
In 2015, CISAC's member societies collected, €8.6bn in royalties from their respective national territories.
CISAC was founded in 1926. Its international headquarters are located in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, with four regional offices based in Budapest, Hungary (European Affairs), Santiago, Chile (Latin American and Caribbean Affairs), Burkina Faso (African Affairs) and, since January 2013, Beijing, China (Asia-Pacific Affairs).