The International Standard Recording Code

ISRC International Agency Bulletin 2007/02
Registrant Codes for Licensed Recordings

13 July 2007

The International ISRC Agency announces today that Registrants may apply for and be allocated a Secondary Registrant Code for use with licensed content.

Users of the ISRC system may find that they wish to license recordings to which an ISRC has not been assigned because the Licensor is unable or unwilling to do so. Local ISRC Agencies may, on request, allocate a single Secondary Registrant Code to these Registrants, so that they can themselves assign ISRCs to such recordings.

This provision is intended to be used sparingly and the use of a separate Secondary Registrant Code will allow the National and International ISRC Agencies to monitor and manage its use.

Local ISRC Agencies should ensure that such Registrants adhere to the following procedures:

1. The Registrant should make good faith efforts to contact the Licensor to determine whether ISRCs have been assigned to the licensed recordings. They should, for instance, check written documentation and encoded data fields in the recording, and query relevant industry databases to determine whether an ISRC has already been assigned.
2. The Registrant should make good faith efforts to report the newly assigned ISRCs to the Licensor immediately following assignment and inform them that the assigned ISRCs should be used in further exploitation of the recording. The Licensor should be referred to their local National ISRC Agency for further information.
3. The Registrant should ensure that the tracks are registered with their newly assigned ISRCs in the relevant industry database, showing the Licensor as the owner.

When a request for a Secondary Registrant Code is made, Local ISRC Agencies should allocate the next Registrant Code in their sequence – requests for “vanity” or “hand-picked” Secondary Registrant Codes are not recommended. National Agencies must also report Secondary Registrant Codes to the International Agency immediately follow allocation. The codes should be submitted via email to isrc@ifpi.org with the following information:

1. Registrant Name
2. Contact Person
3. Address
4. Phone
5. Email
6. Primary Registrant Code
7. Secondary Registrant Code
8. Date of allocation of Secondary Registrant Code

These procedures will be incorporated into the ISRC Handbook in due course.

Enquiries about this arrangement may be addressed to:

International ISRC Agency
c/o IFPI
10 Piccadilly
London W1J 0DD
United Kingdom
isrc@ifpi.org
www.ifpi.org/isrc