CISAC was founded in France in 1926 by 18 authors' societies from 18 European countries,[5] at the time representing mainly the dramatic arts (i.e. playwrights and stage directors).
CISAC released "CIS-Net powered by FastTrack" in 2004, an Internet-based network for sharing musical works information between authors' societies.
The role of CISAC president and vice-president is to voice the opinion of the international community of creators and to defend the system of collective management that protects their rights.
Over the years, this role has been fulfilled by several renowned creators, such as Robert de Flers, Richard Strauss, Armand Salacrou, and Leopold Sedar Senghor.
The professional rules are a set of criteria related to the management of rights and the collection and distribution of royalties by which CISAC member societies should abide.
CISAC works to protect the rights and promote the interests of creators across all regions of the world and artistic fields; music, audiovisual, drama, literature and visual arts.
It enables collective management organisations to seamlessly represent creators internationally and ensure that royalties flow to authors for the use of their works anywhere in the world.
CISAC provides business, legal, and IT support to protect creators' rights and to foster the development of the international network of collective management societies (CMOs).
The role of CISAC's president and vice-president is to represent the international community of creators and to defend the system of collective management that protects their rights.
CISAC has created a variety of committees that address a wide range of legal, strategic, technical, regional or creative issues related to authors' rights and serve to provide guidance on the operational aspects of the organisation.
CISAC provides tools to its members that promote best business practices for all repertoires, including: Reciprocal representation principles are the basis of the international network of authors' societies.
Through this system of agreements, a content user (e.g. a radio broadcaster or a night club) can obtain a single license from their local authors' society for use of the worldwide repertoire of creative works.
It organises and participates in numerous training programmes and seminars for judges and content users that aim to deepen their understanding of copyright, authors' rights and licensing.
Efforts focus on promoting a new international treaty that would remedy existing shortfalls and introduce the resale right as a mandatory element of copyright protection.
CISAC also weighs in on other treaty-related discussions taking place within the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva.
Historically, CISAC organised the World Copyright Summit, which subsequently became the World Creators Summit, an international forum that brought together authors' societies, creators, industry leaders from the technology and entertainment sectors, policymakers and consumer representatives to discuss the future of copyright/authors' rights and creativity in the digital era.
In 2014, CISAC released an economic study that identifies the potential within Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) to increase their creative industries' and contribution to GDP over the next ten years.
[17] In 2015, CISAC published a survey prepared by Ernst & Young, that quantifies the global economic and social contribution of the creative sector, analyzing 11 Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI): advertising, architecture, books, gaming, movies, music, newspapers/magazines, performing arts, radio, television and visual arts.