Copyright matters can sometimes be complicated. As Kuvasto’s customer, you can leave the administrative part to us, getting more time to concentrate on your artistic work.
Copyright royalties are a well-deserved addition to your income as an artist. We take care of collecting your royalties for you. As Kuvasto’s customer, you also receive copyright advice, and our newsletter keeps you updated on our most important news.
Being Kuvasto’s customer is free of charge for you – joining doesn’t include any costs. We only deduct the operating costs from the copyright remunerations we collect, which makes it possible for us to maintain and develop our services.
How can I join?
You can join Kuvasto if you are a visual artist or the rightsholder of a deceased artist. When joining, you must fill in our personal data form and sign our customer agreement (Pdf file).
N.B. Remember to send the agreement by post. To quicken the handling of it, you can additionally send a photo of the agreement signed by you to the address
If you are the rightsholder of a deceased artist, you must additionally send us a copy of the artist’s estate inventory deed and of a possible testament.
Distribution of royalties
We distribute royalties to artists in the year following the year of collection. We initiate the annual distribution in June after Kuvasto’s spring meeting and pay out royalties to artists during the summer months.
When we pay out royalties, taxes are withheld from the remuneration in accordance with tax prepayment. We deduct also an administration fee (20 % in 2024), which covers part of our operating expenses. In the case of international artists represented by our international sister societies, the percentage is 20–25% according to the reciprocal agreement.
Remunerations of less than 50 euros are transferred to the next annual distribution, and remunerations of amounts surpassing 500 euros can be paid in the form of expedited distribution at the artist’s request.
It is important that you keep your personal and contact information updated for the distribution. If needed, you can update your information on our personal data form.
Unclaimed royalties
Did you know that you can get royalties even if you have not yet joined Kuvasto?
The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has given Kuvasto an extended collective licensing status in certain areas of the use of artworks, in which we license images on behalf of all visual artists. This extended collective license (ECL) serves users especially in cases of mass use of artworks. We apply the ECL in cases for example of digital use of works in museum and other collections or use of artworks in TV programs.
We also collect artists resale right royalties for visual art on behalf of all artists, as long as the copyright protection period of the works is valid and the resale of them takes place in Finland.
For the remuneration payment, you need to register at Kuvasto by filling in our personal data form (available in Finnish).
