Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel

ACUM functions as the central body in Israel responsible for protecting copyright in music and literature.[1] It describes itself as a non-profit corporation that administers copyrights assigned to it by members — including lyricists, composers, poets, arrangers, and music publishers — with its principal function being to manage and license, collectively, performing and reproduction rights under Israeli copyright law.[1] Members transfer rights in their works to ACUM, which then licenses those works to users, collects fees, and distributes royalties according to reported usage.[2]

The organization's mandate explicitly covers the full lifecycle of creative work: royalty protection extends for 70 years after a creator's death, with income from works transferred to heirs thereafter.[3] ACUM expressly does not protect the rights of singers, musicians, or performers as such — its remit is limited to composers, lyricists, arrangers, and others who create works, rather than those who perform them.[3] Rights in original recordings, for instance, are handled separately by the Israeli Federation of Phonograms and Cassettes or the Israeli Federation of Independent Record Producers.[4]

ACUM's self-stated purpose is "to safeguard the interests of its members and members of all affiliated Societies" in public-performance, mechanical, and reprint rights, including by combating copyright infringement and collecting royalties from those who publicly perform or copy copyrighted works, directly or through court procedure where necessary.[5]

ACUM was established in 1936 by a cohort of prominent creators of the Yishuv period.[6] Among its founders were Moshe Wilensky, Leah Goldberg, Avraham Shlonsky, Alexander Penn, and Mordechai Zeira.[6] The founding group consisted of thirteen composers and writers who sought to protect and preserve members' copyrights.[7] The organization's original purpose was practical: to collect royalties for the use of works and transfer them to the creators who produced them, with the broader impetus described as protecting intellectual property, advancing creators' legal status, and pursuing shared goals.[8]

One academic account complicates the founding narrative slightly, describing ACUM as having origins connected to an Austrian Autoren, Komponisten und Musikverleger organization dating to 1934 and becoming official in 1936, with an inauguration by a figure identified as Markewitch and a board elected two years later after concerns arose about his bookkeeping and improvised composer payments.[5] The relationship between the 1934 Austrian organization and the 1936 inauguration is not clearly resolved by the available sources, and the founding date of 1936 is the figure consistently cited by the organization itself and by the Israeli Competition Authority.[2][6]

Additional archival evidence comes from the National Library of Israel's Marc Lavry Archive, which catalogs a file of correspondence titled "Letters. Acum Ltd," dated November 26, 1960, as records of a society of composers, authors, and editors in Israel, based in Tel Aviv.[9] The record documents the organization's activity by 1960, during the early decades after Israeli independence.

The practicalities of membership mattered immediately. A 1940 letter to composer Elly Helperin illustrates how ACUM operated in its early years: ACUM told Helperin it could not pay her commission for broadcast songs because she was not a member and had not been included on the list sent to the radio, explaining that it received radio commissions only for members' songs.[5] Helperin had applied for membership in September 1940, after her music had already been broadcast, but ACUM's musical-compositions committee recommended rejecting her application, and a letter dated March 2, 1941, informed her of the rejection and returned submitted music.[5] Her songs had been broadcast for nearly three years without remuneration by the time of that correspondence; she subsequently sought payment directly from the Palestine Broadcasting Service, presenting a bill for five songs totaling 1,000 liras.[5]

Earlier, in January 1938, ACUM had invited Helperin to help plan a Haifa festivity honoring lyricist Avigdor Hamieri. At the resulting concert, three singers performed the poem "Yerushalayim" with three different musical settings: Yokheved Traub sang a melody arranged by M. Beek, Helperin performed her own composition, and A. Okhromovsky sang a setting by M. Rapoport.[5] The episode illustrates the cultural role ACUM played in Mandatory Palestine even in its first years of existence.

ACUM is governed by a board that includes seven ACUM-member directors elected every four years and four external directors, with the board's principal role being to set company policy.[6] The organization is headquartered at 9 Tuval Street, Ramat Gan, according to the National Library of Israel's publisher database, though that listing does not confirm whether all contact details remain current.[10]

Membership is open to creators — lyricists, composers, and arrangers — whose work has been commercially released before they apply.[3] Radio broadcast, sale of a disc, or performance at a ticketed event each qualify as evidence of commercial release.[3] ACUM's admissions committee convenes once every three months to consider applications.[3]

ACUM's published membership figures differ across its own pages. Its English homepage cites over 10,000 members.[1] Its Hebrew history page states over 13,000 Israeli creators,[6] while its 2024 prize regulations describe more than 14,000 Israeli creators.[7] These figures are not reconciled on the organization's website. A 2021 news report described ACUM as serving 13,800 Israeli creators at that time.[11] For its international network, ACUM's English homepage states that it represents members of 98 affiliated societies,[1] while its Hebrew history page specifies 148 agreements covering mechanical and performing rights with 98 sister organizations.[6] A separate membership page cites 139 reciprocal agreements.[3] These differences across ACUM's own pages likely reflect different counting methods or different update dates.

ACUM also operates a creator welfare fund established to assist members in financial hardship; since January 2011, all ACUM members have belonged to the fund without paying separate membership fees to it.[6]

ACUM licenses the use of musical and literary works across a broad range of contexts. Users include radio and television broadcasters, internet and cellular platforms, record companies, publishers, municipalities, and businesses that play music publicly.[6] The organization issues both blanket licenses — which allow a user access to an entire repertoire — and individual licenses for specific works or limited numbers of works.[2]

Licensed uses span radio and television broadcasts, public performance in venues and at concerts, copying lyrics, recording, incorporating music into audiovisual works, music on websites, downloads, sales, and commercial use, as well as performances of Israeli works overseas.[2][4] For each category of use, ACUM collects reports from licensees detailing broadcasts, downloads, sales, and plays, then distributes royalties to creators according to documented usage.[6] Where accurate reports are unavailable, ACUM uses statistical sampling as a basis for distribution.[6] All distributions are subject to the organization's operating expenses.

ACUM's royalty monitoring infrastructure includes AcumOnAir, a system that tracks radio broadcasts and identifies individual works using BMAT technology.[8] The system allows ACUM to enter data queries by time period and station, then filter and consolidate the resulting play data.[8] As of 2026, AcumOnAir monitored broadcasts across 34 licensed national and regional radio stations.[12]

The international dimension of royalty collection is managed through ACUM's network of reciprocal agreements with equivalent collecting societies abroad.[1] These arrangements mean that royalties for Israeli creators' works performed outside Israel are collected by partner organizations and remitted to ACUM for distribution, while royalties for foreign creators' works performed in Israel are collected by ACUM and remitted to the relevant foreign society.[6] ACUM is a member of CISAC and BIEM, bodies it identifies as recognized by WIPO.[1]

Several prominent figures in Israeli music have held senior roles at ACUM. Composer Yedidyah Admon served for several years as director of the organization, though the dates of his tenure are not recorded in available sources.[13] Issachar Miron served as the organization's senior vice president from 1950 to 1960.[14]

Composer Menahem Avidom became ACUM's director-general in 1955 or 1956 — sources differ slightly on the start date — and held the position until 1980, a tenure of roughly 25 years.[15][16] During that period he also served as chairman of the Israel Composers' League.[15] In 1982, ACUM awarded Avidom a prize recognizing his life's work.[17]

Yoric Ben David became ACUM's CEO in 2000, having previously served as its board chair during the 1990s.[11] During his 21-year tenure as chief executive, he worked to promote music creation in Israel, established ACUM's Beit Hayotzer creative venue at Tel Aviv Port, contributed to the establishment of the television channel Muzika il, and advanced copyright legislation in the Knesset.[11] Ben David announced in 2021 that he would leave at the end of March of that year after two decades in the role.[11] Assaf Nahoum subsequently served as ACUM's CEO, and was named as such in reporting on the organization's 68th awards ceremony in 2024.[18]

ACUM's annual prizes began in 1958 as a modest competition for anonymously submitted works and developed over subsequent decades into a comprehensive awards program spanning music and literature.[7] The prize fields recognized in the organization's 2024 regulations include popular music, literature, poetry, concert music, and a Lifetime Achievement Prize.[7]

The 68th awards ceremony, held in 2024, focused on popular-music achievements and brought together established artists and newer creators from among ACUM's membership.[18] The prize regulations provide for two annual ceremonies: one for concert music, literature, and poetry, and another for popular music.[7]

The 2024 ceremony took place against the backdrop of the October 7 attacks and the war that followed. Five employees of the Kfar Aza music-production company Sincopa were murdered in the attacks, and twins Gali and Ziv Berman were kidnapped and remained held as hostages in Gaza at the time of the event; their family and other Kfar Aza residents attended the ceremony.[18] CEO Assaf Nahoum described music and the written word as possessing "an important healing value" and said the ceremony was intended to convey "a message of unity."[18]

The legal and regulatory framework governing ACUM has been shaped by proceedings before Israel's competition authorities over more than two decades. In 2004, the Competition Authority declared ACUM a monopoly in copyright management and licensing, and found that its activities involved restrictive arrangements.[19] The authority's concern centered on ACUM's broad repertoire, which placed it in a powerful position relative to both users and creators while making it practically difficult to establish a competing alternative.[19]

ACUM responded to the 2004 declaration by disputing the restrictive-arrangement characterization and announcing an intention to appeal.[19] The organization warned that the decision threatened Israeli original creation and would force music users to seek permission individually from thousands of Israeli creators and millions of foreign rights holders — an argument grounded in the collective-licensing rationale for organizations of its type.[19]

Subsequent proceedings unfolded over several years. The Antitrust Tribunal set initial operating conditions in 2005, including a requirement that ACUM distribute royalties to members in a way corresponding to the actual extent and nature of use of their works, including through sampling.[20] ACUM continued to seek approval for a restrictive arrangement while also appealing the underlying monopoly finding. In October 2008, the tribunal rejected ACUM's appeal and directed that it be joined with the proceeding on approval of the arrangement.[21] ACUM appealed to the Supreme Court; in 2009, the Supreme Court accepted the Competition Commissioner's position that the challenged decision was interlocutory and dismissed ACUM's appeal at that stage, leaving regulation of its activities to continue before the tribunal.[21]

A government announcement in 2016 summarized conditions imposed on ACUM's operations. ACUM's published summary states that the conditions require it to grant licenses absent justified grounds for refusal, prohibit discrimination between similarly situated users, and mandate publication of repertoire information and tariffs.[22] The authority also required regular public activity reports, reports to artists detailing uses of funds collected on their behalf, and annual financial reporting to artists.[23] An arbitration mechanism was established for creators not accepted as members, and ACUM's obligations regarding its public works database were expanded, including duties to identify rightsholders and flag works whose copyrights had expired.[23]

Protections for users were also strengthened: radio and television broadcasters, as well as other user categories, were permitted to challenge ACUM's licensing fees without the risk of an injunction or statutory compensation, provided they paid temporary usage fees in the interim.[23] The 2016 announcement noted that ACUM's activity had been approved by the Antitrust Tribunal and that appeals against that approval had been rejected by the Supreme Court.[23] ACUM's own summary of the conditions states that they regulate licensing and user rights and that the full conditions prevail in any conflict with summaries published by the organization.[22]

Several disputes have surrounded ACUM's operations and ceremonies over the years, touching on royalty distribution, digital licensing, member relations, and cultural politics.

In 2002, ACUM announced plans to change how it charged for radio broadcasts transmitted online. Stations broadcasting both over the air and online would pay for online transmission in addition to their regular broadcast fees; online-only stations would be charged according to listeners per song rather than a flat channel fee.[24] Online-radio representatives objected that tracking users was burdensome and that additional charges could lead stations to close their online services, while the regional-radio association disputed ACUM's right to collect separate royalties for the same content transmitted online.[24]

In 2007, songwriter Shamrit Or alleged that a pension-like arrangement funded by deductions from members' royalties had been distributed without clear criteria or adequate accounting.[20] ACUM rejected the claim that it deprived members of royalties and said discussions were underway to find a solution; the published report recorded the parties' positions but did not resolve the underlying dispute.[20]

A class action application filed in 2020 estimated potential liability at approximately NIS 250 million, alleging that ACUM held years of collected but undistributed royalties and had not adequately disclosed the accumulated sums to members.[25] The application alleged undistributed balances of roughly NIS 132 million at the start of 2012, NIS 178 million at the start of 2013, and NIS 195 million at the end of 2014, and characterized the held funds as being held in trust for rights holders.[25] ACUM described the claim as baseless; the available reporting records the filing and the initial response, not a final determination on the merits.[25]

Also in 2020, the Jerusalem District Court rejected ACUM's suit seeking a new royalty model for regional radio stations that, according to ACUM, could have raised payments by as much as threefold.[26] ACUM argued that existing payments were too low to sustain creators; the stations countered that higher payments would primarily benefit creators whose songs were already most frequently played.[26] The court held that it could not create and impose the proposed model in the absence of legislation, and expressed concern that the model could reduce broadcasts of Hebrew music, particularly less frequently played works.[26]

ACUM's annual ceremonies have also drawn political attention. In 2014, ACUM's board voted to change the designation of an award for singer-songwriter Ariel Zilber from "Lifetime Achievement" to "Contributor to Israeli Music" amid controversy over Zilber's political views.[27] Singer Achinoam Nini, who had said she would not accept her own ACUM prize for ideological reasons after learning Zilber was also to be honored, maintained her decision not to attend even after the title was changed.[27]

In 2017, Israeli Arab singer Mira Awad performed a song using the words of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish at an ACUM ceremony. Culture Minister Miri Regev said beforehand that she would leave rather than hear the song, criticized ACUM and Darwish, and followed through by departing.[28] Awad defended the performance and disputed Regev's interpretation of the poem, placing the ceremony at the center of a public debate about Palestinian poetry, Israeli cultural institutions, and political expression.[28]