CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, works towards increased recognition and protection of creators’ rights. CISAC was founded in 1926 and is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation. Its headquarters are in Paris, with regional offices in Budapest, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg and Singapore. CISAC’s main activities and member services aim to: - To strengthen and develop the international network of copyright societies; - To secure a position for creators and their collective management organisations in the international scene; - To adopt and implement quality and technical efficiency criteria to increase copyright societies’ interoperability; - To support societies’ strategic development in each region and in each repertoire; - To retain a central database allowing societies to exchange information efficiently; - To participate in improving national and international copyright laws and practices. As of June 2007, CISAC numbers 219 authors’ societies from 115 countries and indirectly represents more than 2.5 million creators within all the artistic repertoires: music, drama, literature, audio-visual, graphic and visual arts. Also in June 2007, CISAC’s General Assembly elected UK singer-songwriter Robin Gibb (The Bee Gees) as President of CISAC and Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón as Vice President. CISAC’s President and Vice President represent and voice the opinion of the international community of creators as well as the system of collective administration that promotes their rights. The total amount of royalties collected by CISAC’s member societies, on their own national collection territories, amounted in 2005 to more than €6.7 billion. Despite the challenging environment (digital piracy, decline of CD sales, etc.), this represents an increase of 12% since 2003. CISAC members have strived to ensure that creators from around the world benefit from the ever-increasing popularity of their works and the development of new uses. It should be noted that income from music currently represents almost 90% of all revenue.