Merlin Membership Criteria

Membership Criteria - membership is open to any company owning or controlling master recording rights, with an annual share of the global market for recorded music of less than 5% except any company which is owned in whole or in part, or controlled, by either a “non qualifying company” or a company which is a member of a “non qualifying group of companies” (the “ownership criteria”).

In addition, Merlin reserves the right to refuse membership to any company whose membership the supervisory board of Merlin reasonably believes would be incompatible with the achievement of Merlin’s objectives.

The supervisory board of Merlin may however, in its discretion, depending on circumstances (and with due regard to legal advice in particular as to competition law matters) accept an application for membership from a company which does not fulfill the ownership criteria.


For the purposes of the Membership Criteria described above:

The term “company” includes any company, corporation, partnership, sole trader or other business;

• a "non qualifying company" is any company with a 5% or more annual share of the global recorded music market;

• a “non qualifying group of companies” is any group of companies (i.e. a company and all companies either controlled or 50% or more owned by such company or managed on a unified basis with such company) whose aggregate annual share of the global record music market is 5% or more;

• a company “controls” another where it either holds or controls a majority of the voting rights in a company, has the right to appoint or remove a director of a company or has the right to exercise a dominant influence over a company;

• additionally, a company controls another company if it owns or controls 50% or more of a company which controls such company; and
  

• a company (the “owner”) is deemed to “own” shares where shares are held by a person acting on behalf of the owner or are owned by a company 50% or more owned by the owner.