An extended Reciprocal Agreement was signed between RadioPro Ltd (UK) and RRML (Ireland)

RadioPro Ltd (radiopromusic.co.uk), one of the Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) established in the United Kingdom, has secured continued protection for its repertoire in the European Economic Area (EEA) after Brexit, with the best interests of its rights holders in mind.

Until the end of 2020, RadioPro Ltd was able to collect royalties within the EEA, because the UK retained EEA rights during the Brexit transition period under Article 126 of the withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK. During that transition period, which ended on 31 December 2020, the two sides negotiated their future relationship and signed the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

RadioPro Rights Management Limited (RRML – radiopro.ie) is a Collective Management Organisation established in the Republic of Ireland. It makes sure rights holders receive the income due to them in Ireland under the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, and in other countries whose law protects those rights. The company acts as an agency, collecting these monies and distributing them to rights holders in Ireland and across the European Union, of which Ireland has been a member state since 1973.

The two organisations reached agreement and signed a Contract of Reciprocal Representation on 31 December 2020. A reciprocal agreement is a contract, usually between two collective management organisations in different territories, under which each collects royalties on behalf of the other’s members.

From 1 January 2021, RRML represents the neighbouring rights of the performers and producers in the RadioPro Ltd repertoire in the Republic of Ireland and the European Union, while RadioPro Ltd represents the rights of the RRML repertoire in the United Kingdom.

At the time of the agreement, the combined repertoire of both organisations exceeded twelve thousand (12,000) music works, already licensed to online and offline media in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union.

The two organisations have also agreed to license the complete playlist of Loungest Radio (loungemusic.co.uk) and the music videos of Lounge TV (loungetv.co.uk). Both stations now broadcast exclusively from the repertoire of the two organisations throughout Europe.