AGICOA exceeded the objectives

In 2024, AGICOA operated at the highest levels in its history, in both royalty collection and distribution.

Despite the ongoing transformation of the audiovisual industry, our unwavering commitment to accelerating payments, reducing provisions through collective efforts, expanding our reach, and protecting producers’ rights has proven highly effective, further strengthening AGICOA’s role in the industry.

We also accelerated our internal processes and increased distribution efficiency, through AI-driven innovations.

Another record in distributions

AGICOA and its partner organizations exceeded expectations in the distribution of funds to producers. In 2024, we put into distribution EUR 200.2 million including EUR 171.6 million in first distributions and EUR 28.6 million in final distributions.

This represents a +52.71% increase over our initial target of EUR 131.1 million (by comparison, EUR 164.1 million was distributed in 2023).

This outstanding result was largely driven by exceptional distributions in Belgium, where EUR 43.8 million was allocated (EUR 31.0 million in first distribution and EUR 12.8 million in final distribution). This was made possible through new licensing agreements and the resolution of litigation initiated by the performers’ collecting society Playright against operators who had called AGICOA Europe Brussels in warranty. As a result, the AGICOA Europe Brussels Board was able to reassess litigation risks and release a significant portion of previously blocked funds. Additionally, we recorded positive distribution variances in Spain, Poland, and Germany.

These successes for producers come at a time when operators are questioning the future of traditional television, yet we continued to secure new licensing agreements and unlock substantial blocked amounts for distribution.

Royalty collections

In 2024, AGICOA remained strongly committed to safeguarding royalty collections for producers. Overall, collections ranked among the top three in its history, totalling EUR 161.4 million.

Royalties were successfully collected under all our agreements, except in Belgium and The Netherlands, where collections remained below expectations.

However, negotiations continued in parallel with mediation and litigation processes, and we remain optimistic about achieving positive outcomes in 2025.

Despite these challenges, AGICOA Europe Brussels successfully concluded two new licensing agreements with Belgian operators, reinforcing our dedication to finding solutions while ensuring fair market pricing. We also signed new agreements in the Netherlands and were proud to resolve a longstanding issue with the Dutch collecting society Videma, thereby securing our revenue streams.

This stable collection level provides a solid foundation for our 2025 distribution plan, with a target of EUR 141.0 million (for comparison, the 2024 distribution plan stood at EUR 131.1 million).

Operating costs and internal controls

AGICOA closed 2024 with operating costs well within budget, thanks to strict cost control measures. We achieved savings of CHF 0.83 million (-9.43%) and additional revenues of CHF 0.78 million, allowing us to return CHF 1.61 million to fiduciary accounts for rightsholders.

AGICOA’s rightsholders

In 2024, the Rightsholder Services team created 844 new rightsholder accounts in AGICOA’s International Rights Royalties Information System (IRRIS) while also streamlining the database by deactivating 860 old inactive accounts.

The team validated over 88 804 new works and rights declarations and processed approximately 146 portfolio transfers between rightsholders. The number of Works and Rights Import (WRIs) files reached 1 937. This demonstrates our ongoing efforts to identify and locate rightsholders globally. Today, AGICOA represents more than 23 000 rightsholders from 91 nationalities.

In addition, AGICOA Europe established a Cultural Fund in Luxembourg to support production, allowing producers to receive grants ranging from EUR 10 000 to EUR 50 000.

Evolving challenges

Changing traditional TV consumption habits, driven by streaming, social media, and video-on-demand platforms, have intensified the pressure on traditional operators, who are experiencing declining viewership. Unlike the boom during the COVID years, the industry is now grappling with market uncertainty, inflationary pressure and significant investment requirements, all of which are squeezing margins. As a result, operators are seeking to reduce their overall costs, including the royalties they pay to producers represented by AGICOA.

In this evolving landscape, AGICOA can step in as a safety net, ensuring producers receive fair remuneration for the use of their works. AI also presents new challenges and opportunities for producers. 

In Belgium, Bosnia, and the Netherlands, negotiations with certain TV operators remain difficult. Nonetheless, AGICOA remains committed to defending the interests of rightsholders, with legal action considered as a last resort.

Markets expansion

AGICOA is expanding in the UK through its partnership with AVLA, which completed the first royalty collections in 2024. The results exceeded expectations, as the project is self-financed. Our goal for 2025 is to consolidate our position in this market by securing new licensing agreements.

In Italy, a local presence has been established through AGICOA Italia. Operational readiness is expected over the course of 2025, with commencement of operations anticipated thereafter, supported by AGICOA’s Italian members.

Beyond the UK and Italy, AGICOA is actively exploring licensing opportunities in EU countries under the CABSAT2 framework, particularly Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia, as well as developing activities in Monaco.

In parallel, AGICOA continued to support Spain in its successful expansion into Latin America, where new collection activities have been launched across several countries.

Historic reduction in fiduciary provisions

AGICOA reduced the level of outstanding provisions due to rightsholders by EUR 12.9 million in 2024, a remarkable decrease of 18.4%. This is particularly noteworthy given that 2024 was a record year of distributions, which would normally lead to higher provisions. This success enabled increased payments to rightsholders in 2024 driven by additional final distributions and conflict resolutions.

Blocked funds due to conflicting rights declarations reduced by EUR 0.94 million, (-9.9%), a net reduction that takes into consideration new conflicts and new amounts added to ongoing conflicts.  

No fewer than 814 Conflict Resolution Procedures (CRPs) were resolved, releasing a record amount of EUR 2.30 million for rightsholders. The implementation of the 2023 procedure for the partial resolution of dubbing conflicts led to the release of EUR 0.41 million.

Data protection and the power of AI

In today’s data-driven world, AGICOA continues to treat data protection as a top priority across all the regions where we operate. Since implementing the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, one of our key initiatives in 2024 was to ensure compliance with Switzerland’s new data protection act. These compliance efforts, combined with broader security measures and safeguards, are essential for protecting personal data and privacy. They also promote trust and transparency by ensuring that access is limited to the right individuals while securing our operations and IT assets.

In collaboration with IDIAP, a leading Swiss research institute specializing in artificial intelligence affiliated with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), AGICOA explored the use of AI to improve internal processes, particularly the matching of TV broadcasts with our international database of audiovisual works and rights.

In 2024, the AGICOA team matched a database of 1.6 million works and rights against more than 2.5 million broadcasts across more than 306 TV channels. In 2025, artificial intelligence will be deployed in our identification process.

With the support of our identification and IT teams, a proof of concept was developed, achieving a fivefold increase in processing speed and a 20% improvement in auto-identification rates compared to AGICOA’s in-house algorithm. Building on this success, the AI-driven identification tool – AGICOA’s proprietary development – will be integrated into IRRIS, in early 2025, always under human oversight and guided by authentic intelligence. We continue to refine internal controls and enhance matching accuracy to better serve our declarants.