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Tell us what you do and where you live. We show which society to join, what it asks for, what it costs and where to apply.

Step 3 · your societies

Songwriter — living in Japan

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As a songwriter

Join this society in Japan

Writers generally join one authors' society for a given territory and right. That society collects your writer share from other countries through its agreements with sister societies, so you don't join a second one for the same rights.

JASRAC

Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers · Japan

Your home society
Who can join
Songwriters, Publishers
Joining fee
Trustor: JPY 0. Associate Member: JPY 25,000 (creator) / JPY 75,000 (publisher). Full Member: no separate entry fee shown.
Yearly fee
Trustor: JPY 0. Associate: JPY 4,000 (creator) / JPY 20,000 (publisher). Full Member: JPY 12,000 (creator) / JPY 60,000 (publisher).
Processing time
Individuals: contract completed in as little as 20 days after the application is accepted. Publishers: as little as 10 business days.
Apply online
Yes — online trust-contract application 24/7 from PC or smartphone, with eKYC; postal procedure available on request.
Members from abroad
Foreign nationals may entrust works only if they live in Japan with their copyright activity based there; non-Japanese citizens must submit a certificate of residence.
Who is eligible
  • Creators (authors/composers) must live in Japan and have the base of their copyright activities in Japan.
  • Must have a bank account in Japan and be able to communicate in Japanese, or have a contact person who can.
  • Your song must, in principle, have been used by a third party in Japan or abroad within the past year (one qualifying use is enough).
  • Qualifying uses include: 1,000+ requests on a commercial streaming site (not your own), commercial karaoke, broadcast on NHK/commercial TV or radio, or a label CD/DVD of 1,000+ copies.
  • Concerts/films: paid-entry events; if the venue holds 500 or fewer, 3+ uses within a year. Self-promoted events and self-released records do not count.
  • Publishers must be a legal entity whose articles include music publishing, with writer contracts that follow JASRAC's rules.
  • Membership tiers: Trustor (signed trust contract) -> Associate Member (apply + pay fees) -> Full Member (associates meeting certain conditions).
What to have ready0 of 3 ready
Apply at JASRAC (creators) ↗
Sources and notes

Royalty collection, distribution and commission rates are the same whatever the membership tier; fees only buy extra services and voting rights.

Associate membership is applied for via the Members Site after signing the trust contract; a member card is issued once entry and first-year fees are paid.

You can exclude some rights categories from JASRAC's mandate; the scope can be changed once a year.

The application forms are in Japanese and hosted on req.qubo.jp, a form service JASRAC links from its own pages.

Sources — JASRAC's own pages, read on 2026-10-06. Fees and rules change: the society's site is the reference.

How we chose these

Your home society comes first: it is the one you join for the rights listed. The joining details come from each society's own website, read on the date shown on its card. Countries we haven't checked yet show the society from our worldwide directory, with a link to its site.

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Why join?

Songwriters

Societies pay the writers registered with them. If you write songs and aren't a member of an authors' society, your writer share of radio, TV, live and streaming plays can't reach you. It sits unidentified until it is claimed, or is shared out to others.

Performers

When a recording you are on is broadcast or played in public, performers are owed a share (neighbouring rights). It is paid through performers' societies, and registering is how it finds you.

Producers and publishers

Master owners collect their share of the same plays through producers' societies. Publishers collect the publisher share of the songs through the authors' society. Both collect through a society membership.

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