A copyright collective (also known as a copyright society, copyright collecting agency, licensing agency or copyright collecting society or collective management organization) is a non-governmental body created by copyright law or private agreement which licenses copyrighted works on behalf of the authors and engages in collective rights management. Copyright societies track all the events and venues where copyrighted works are used and ensure that the copyright holders listed with the society are remunerated for such usage. The copyright society publishes its own tariff scheme on its websites and collects a nominal administrative fee on every transaction.

Copyright societies evolved out of the need to have an organised body for licensing and managing copyrighted works. Without copyright societies, it would be impossible for users like restaurants, malls and large events to collect licenses from individual copyright holders and negotiate terms with them. Copyright societies negotiate prices and create tariffs on behalf of the authors that they represent and offset the imbalance of power between the users and the copyright holders. The lobbying power of copyright societies is especially important in industries like the music industry, where authors and owners of copyright are often placed at a disadvantage. The music streaming revolution was also projected as an attack on the power imbalance in the music industry. The evolution of technology and influence of music aggregators like Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora are changing the existing system of copyright licensing and might make copyright societies obsolete.

While the system of copyright societies is similar in all countries, their influence over the industry and mode of operation varies from country to country.

Copyright societies operate by acquiring the right to license works from the owners and then negotiating and licensing the works to others. They usually operate in one particular industry and try to acquire the works of all the authors dealing in that particular industry. The tariffs decided by copyright societies are based on the kind of event or venue of the licensee and usually allow the licensee to access the entire repertoire of works available with the copyright society. The royalty distributed to the owners is based on their market influence and demand for their works. Reduction of transaction costs and other benefits of collective management can be realised only when the copyright society has control over all or most of the copyrighted works in a particular industry.

Copyright law is territorial in nature, but copyrights are protected in multiple countries through international instruments such as the Berne Convention and the TRIPS Agreement. Along with licensing, copyright societies monitor the use of copyrighted works assigned to them and ensure that the copyright holders are fairly remunerated for such use. In order to monitor the use of copyrighted works abroad, societies enter into MoUs or international licensing agreements with their foreign counterparts in the industry and exchange information regarding the use of copyrighted materials.

Collecting societies can sell blanket licences, which grant the right to perform their catalogue for a period of time. Such a licence might for example provide a broadcaster with a single annual authorisation encompassing thousands of songs owned by thousands of composers, lyricists and publishers. The societies also sell individual licenses for users who reproduce and distribute music. For example, Apple must submit the download reports for the iTunes Store, which are used to determine their royalty payments.

This acquisition is guided by the country's legal regime. Some jurisdictions, such as Hungary, create legal monopolies, and de facto monopolies arise in others. Once rights are acquired, the copyright collective then has to collect data on the uses of copyrighted works. The processing of this data will enable the copyright collective to discharge its functions, including the detection of unauthorized use, negotiation of licenses, collection of remuneration and distribution of collected remuneration amongst the members of the copyright collective on the basis of collected data.

Copyright collecting societies in the European Union usually hold monopolies in their respective national markets. Some countries create a statutory monopoly, while others recognise effective monopolies through regulations.