Corint Media

What Corint Media does

Corint Media is a Berlin-based, non-profit Collective Management Organization (CMO) authorized by the European Commission under the EU CMO Directive, operating as one of approximately 13 collecting societies in Germany. Founded in 2001 as VG Media and rebranded to Corint Media in January 2021, the organization manages ancillary copyright and press publisher rights for 579 rightholders, comprising private broadcasters such as RTL Television, ProSieben, Sat.1, and WELT, and press publishers including Axel Springer. Corint administers more than 360,000 contractor licensing agreements and operates licensing frameworks in over 40 countries.

The organization's core activity is the aggregation of rights from its member broadcasters and publishers, the licensing of those rights to digital platforms and content aggregators (including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, UPDAY, and Ecosia), and the distribution of collected royalties back to rightholders. Corint has progressively expanded its mandate from traditional ancillary rights (transmission and retransmission) into press publisher rights, a strategic repositioning reflected in the 2021 rebrand. The organization is notable for an increasingly assertive regulatory and commercial posture toward large platforms, evidenced by a 2020 Franco-German press publisher coalition, a 2023 interim licensing agreement with Google, a 2022 €1.2 million arbitration win against Microsoft, and a September 2025 complaint filed against Google under the EU Digital Services Act over AI Overviews.

As a non-profit CMO, Corint does not retain licensing revenue for profit; only administrative costs are retained, with those costs reportedly split roughly 50/50 between the broadcaster and publisher mandates. With 13 employees and a single Berlin office, the organization operates a lean administrative model relative to the scale of rights flows it manages. Strategic direction under Managing Director Dr. Christine Jury-Fischer (appointed May 2023) is oriented toward regulatory enforcement and rate renegotiation with US hyperscalers, including a 2025-commissioned study arguing that Google owes German media approximately €1.3 billion for press content usage.

Name

Corint Media

Legal name

Corint Media GmbH

Website

https://corint-media.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Corint Media is a Berlin-based, EU-authorized non-profit Collective Management Organization that manages ancillary copyright and press publisher rights for 579 German broadcasters and publishers, licensing those rights to digital platforms across 40+ countries and distributing royalties back to rightholders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collective Rights Management / Media Rights Licensing

NAICS

Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)

SIC

Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829)

akta.pro primary industry

Neighboring Rights Collection (Sound Recording Performance Rights) (MPAIAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Performance/Neighboring Rights for AV Uses (Cue Sheet & Reporting Services) (MPAIALAK), Neighboring Rights (Master Performance Rights) Administration (MPAIAAAH)

Keywords

• Collective rights management
• Media rights licensing
• Ancillary copyright rights
• Press publisher rights
• Copyright licensing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Licensing Royalties: Corint Media collects copyright and ancillary rights royalties from third parties (primarily digital platforms like Google, Microsoft, Facebook) who use content from private broadcasters and press publishers. Revenue is collected through licensing agreements and distributed to rightholders after deduction of administrative costs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Corint Media is a European Collective Management Organization (CMO) that administers copyright and ancillary rights on behalf of private broadcasters and press publishers. The company bundles rights from its rightholder members, licenses those rights to digital platforms and other users under collectively negotiated tariffs, and distributes collected royalties (net of regulated administrative deductions) back to its members. It also engages in legal enforcement of rights and represents members in regulatory and tariff proceedings.

Product overview

Corint Media is a European Collective Management Organization (CMO) that operates as a single, unified rights licensing service rather than a modular platform. The core offering consists of four integrated components: broadcasting rights licensing, press publisher rights management, rights administration services, and international licensing. Together these services enable private broadcasters and press publishers to collectively license their copyright and ancillary rights to digital platforms, with revenues distributed to rights holders after administrative costs. The company manages rights for over 500 rightholders and operates under the EU's CMO Directive, with oversight from the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Broadcasting Rights Licensing Collective licensing of copyright and ancillary rights of private (non-public-service) broadcasters to digital platforms and other users, with royalty collection and distribution back to member broadcasters. The service is for digital platforms needing licensed access to broadcaster content.
• Press Publisher Rights Management Collective licensing of copyright and ancillary rights of press publishers to digital platforms, news aggregators, and AI/ML services, including negotiation of tariffs covering press publisher rights. The service targets platforms and services that reproduce or make available press publisher content.
• Rights Administration and Royalty Distribution Services End-to-end rights administration services for rightholder members, including rights tracking, royalty calculation, deduction of regulated administrative costs, and distribution of net royalties to entitled members.
• Legal Enforcement and Tariff Representation Legal enforcement of collective rights (including against unlicensed digital usage) and representation of members in tariff-setting and regulatory proceedings under German/European copyright law.
• International Licensing and Reciprocal Representation Cross-border licensing of member rights via reciprocal agreements with foreign collective management organizations and direct international licensing, extending the company's licensing reach beyond Germany to other European and international markets.

Quantifiable outcome

• €1.2 million arbitration award against Microsoft (2022)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Alliance of Media and Digital Industry (DSA Complaint Coalition)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 September 2025Alliance including VAUNET, BDZV, DJV, European Federation of Journalists, EMMA/ENPA, AlgorithmWatch, and other organizations filed DSA complaint against Google's AI Overviews. Coalition of NGOs, associations and organisations from media and digital industry.
• GooglecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 October 2023Interim agreement with Google regarding remuneration for press publishers' rights. Final remuneration to be determined by Arbitration Board. Also related to Google News Showcase coexistence with collective rights management.
• MicrosoftminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 December 2022Arbitration awarded Corint Media €1.2 million from Microsoft for use of press publisher rights. Corint Media enforced press performance protection rights against Microsoft through arbitration.
• EscosiaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 July 2022Corint Media reached a breakthrough licensing agreement with Escosia for the use of press publisher content.
• UPDAYminorOthers · 10 June 2021Corint Media entered into a licensing agreement with UPDAY, a news aggregation service, for the use of press publisher content.
• French and German Press Publishers CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 July 2020French and German press publishers united to enforce EU Directive on press publishers' rights against digital platforms. Joint initiative to implement ancillary copyright across Europe.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• GEMA: Germany's largest music rights collecting society and another authorized CMO under German law. Directly comparable to Corint Media as both function as German collecting societies administering rights and royalties on behalf of rightholders, supervised by DPMA.
• CEDRO: Spanish collecting society for editors and authors of books, journals, and other publications. Directly comparable as a CMO administering reproduction rights of press publishers—the same rightholder segment Corint represents.
• SACEM: France's leading CMO for musical works, jointly leading the French-German press publishers coalition with Corint Media. Highly comparable as a fellow EU-authorized CMO operating under the same CMO Directive framework.
• Reprobel: Belgian collecting society administering reproduction rights for authors, publishers, and press publishers. Comparable as a smaller neighboring EU CMO with analogous rights administration and royalty distribution functions.
• PRS for Music: UK-based CMO for songwriters, composers, and music publishers. Comparable to Corint Media as a national CMO administering collective rights and royalties under similar collective management principles.
• VG Wort: German collecting society for authors and publishers of written works. Directly comparable as a parallel German CMO administering reproduction and distribution rights for press publishers and authors, with similar statutory status.
• SIAE: Italian collecting society for authors and publishers across multiple creative categories including audiovisual works. Comparable as another EU CMO focused on rights administration and royalty distribution to creators and intermediaries.
• AGICOA: European CMO specifically administering neighboring rights of audio-visual producers. Closely comparable to Corint Media given the shared focus on neighboring rights and the role as specialized CMO for media intermediaries rather than individual creators.

Others

• CISAC: International confederation of authors' and composers' societies. Related to Corint Media as a global umbrella and standards body for CMOs, of which Corint is a member through its national society affiliations.

Regional players

• SACD: French collecting society for dramatic authors and composers. Comparable as another EU CMO under the same regulatory regime, with overlap in audiovisual rights administration.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/corint-media-gmbh

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Corint Media