The Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Ltd.(CASH) [1]is a non-profit society in Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China which aims to administer and enforce collectively the rights of composers and authors of musical works subsisting under the copyright law of Hong Kong SAR. Members carry letters after their names as "M.CASH". It's motto is: PROTECT COPYRIGHT - LET CREATIVITY FLOURISH". The word "Author" here stands for "Lyricist" instead of the common understanding of an author. CASH at present controls the copyright of musical works of over 1 million local Members and Members from more than 60 overseas affiliated Societies. All licence fees after deduction of its administrative costs (around 20% in 2000) will be distributed to local Members and overseas affiliated Societies. The society also protects and administers the rights of its Members in more than 130 countries/territories throughout the world by means of reciprocal representation agreements with overseas Societies.[2]
CASH Members
To be eligible as a member of CASH, one must be EITHER a writer (including composers and authors) or a music publisher: Writer (including composers and authors) Hong Kong Identity Card holder; Original composer and / or lyricist; and
Meeting one of the following 2 conditions : (i) At least 1 work having been commercially published; or (ii) 3 counts of having been broadcast or made available or publicly performed by CASH licensees or in CASH licensed venues irrespective of the number of works involved. Heir of a deceased composer and / or author is also eligible to apply for 'Successor' membership. Publisher A publishing company or organisation registered in Hong Kong with publishing as its main objective; and has copyright ownership or publishing right of at least five works (e.g. commercially released CD or sheet music) within the last two years.
| Member type | Number of members |
|---|---|
| Writer | 2601 |
| Publisher | 260 |
| Successor | 32 |
| Grand Total: | 2893 (as of 21 Sept, 2006) |
CASH Awards
- CASH Hall of Fame Awards
- CASH Golden Sail Music Awards
- Most Performed Work Awards
- Winners of The CASH Song Writers Quest
- CASH Global Best New Chinese Pop Composer and Lyricist Awards
- Best Chinese (Pop) Melody and Lyrics Awards
