Who can vote?

Only natural persons (individuals) are allowed to vote. In Buma and Stemra, these are:

• An author with voting rights or their heirs;
• A registered author who is allowed to vote on behalf of an author’s BV/NV or a foreign capital company;
• A publisher with voting rights. This refers to a sole proprietorship;
• A publishing company with voting rights. A publishing company is an organization that performs the work of a music publisher, but on a much larger scale and with multiple employees. A staff member can vote on behalf of the publishing company. This staff member must be authorized to vote on behalf of the publishing company (executive officer). An executive officer is someone authorized to act on behalf of the publishing company, such as a manager or director. The publishing company determines who is authorized to vote.

You can only vote from one role. If you are a member through multiple roles, you must choose which role will cast the vote. You cannot vote on behalf of a publishing company and also as an author, or vice versa. For example, you also cannot vote simultaneously as a publisher and as an executive officer of a publishing company.

If you are a member of both Buma and Stemra, you may have voting rights for both. It is also possible to have voting rights for only Buma or Stemra. The same conditions apply to both organizations.