Governance, Policies & Annual Reports • Copyright Licensing

Governance, Policies & Annual Reports

Copyright Licensing New Zealand was established in 1988 by Book Publishers Association of New Zealand and is now jointly owned by PANZ (formally BPANZ) and the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA).

Meet our Board

The Board normally meets five times a year and is made up of six directors and a Board intern, of which two are appointed in conjunction with NZSA, two with PANZ, and two are independent directors. View our Board Charter here (pdf) >>

Name Position Appointed In conjunction with
Tom Rennie Director 2019 PANZ
Karun Shenoy Chairperson 2022 Independent
Mandy Hager
Director
2022 NZSA
Yolunda Hickman Visual Arts Advisor 2023 Independent
Evo Leota-Tupou
Board Intern 2023 Independent
Mel Winder
Director
2023 PANZ
Victoria Spackman Director 2024 Independent
Rose Carlyle Director 2024 NZSA

Karun Shenoy

Chairperson

Karun Shenoy was appointed as independent director to the CLNZ board in September 2022. His professional background has been in the technology industry, with leadership and management roles in major digital transformation programmes. A Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors, Karun is also currently board chair at English Language Partners New Zealand, President of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and board member at Business Central, and Angel HQ.

Mandy Hager

Director

Mandy Hager is a multi-award winning writer of fiction for young adults. In 2019 she was awarded the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal, for life-time achievement and a distinguished contribution to New Zealand’s literature for young people. She has won the LIANZA Book Awards for Young Adult fiction 3 times (‘Smashed’ 2008, ‘The Nature of Ash’ 2013, ‘Dear Vincent’ 2014), the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards for YA fiction (‘The Crossing’ 2010), an Honour Award in the 1996 AIM Children’s Book Awards (‘Tom’s Story’), Golden Wings Excellence Award (‘Juno Lucina,’ 2002), Golden Wings Award (‘Run For The Trees’, 2003) and Six Notable Book Awards.

She has also been awarded the 2012 Beatson Fellowship, the 2014 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship and the 2015 Waikato University Writer in Residence.

In 2015 her novel ‘Singing Home the Whale’ was awarded the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award, and the Best Young Adult fiction Award from the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. It has also been named a 2016 IBBY Honour Book, an international award. Her historical novel for adults, ‘Heloise’, was long-listed for the Ockham Book Awards. Her latest non-fiction book is ‘Protest: Shaping Aotearoa.’

She is a trained teacher with an MA in Creative Writing. She also writes adult fiction, short stories, non-fiction, educational resources, blogs and articles, and tutored the Novel Course for Whitireia’s Creative Writing Programme for ten years. She is Past President of the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc.

Tom Rennie

Director

Tom is a publisher with Bridget Williams Books (BWB), an award-winning independent New Zealand book publisher. His publishing encompasses both print and digital works, including the innovative BWB Texts series. Prior to joining BWB, Tom worked as a publisher with Cengage Learning EMEA in London. Tom holds a Masters in Publishing Studies with Distinction from Oxford Brookes University and is a Council Member for the Publishers Association of New Zealand with responsibility for the copyright portfolio.

Mel Winder

Director

Mel Winder (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and Ngāi Tahu) is the Managing Director of Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand and has over 25 years’ experience working for multinational book publishers both in the UK and NZ. She has been a PANZ Councillor and member of the Book Awards Trust and sat on the Whitireia Publishing School Advisory Board.

Rose Carlyle

Director

Rose Carlyle is a full-time author. A graduate of the University of Otago, she practised as a corporate lawyer in Auckland in the 1990s before becoming a barrister sole in the 2000s. More recently, she has taught postgraduate courses at the College of Law in Auckland.

In 2018, Rose received a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Auckland, and in 2020 she was awarded a residency at the Michael King Writers’ Centre. Her debut novel was an instant number-one bestseller in New Zealand, was translated into eight languages, and has been optioned for the screen. Her second novel will be released internationally in 2024.

Victoria Spackman

Director

Victoria Spackman ONZM is an independent director based in Wellington. Her past and current governance and advisory roles span the creative, business, technology and exporting sectors, including Chair of high-growth trans-Tasman technology company Ackama Group, director/board member of BATS Theatre, MetService, NZTE, Screenrights, SPADA, Uno Loco, and Toi Mai Workforce Development Council. She is also an owner-director of visitor experience design and screen production company Gibson International and serves on the board of the Katherine Mansfield House and Garden.

Victoria was Chief Executive of the Gibson Group both before and after she led a management buyout of that business, and was the first executive director of Whitirea and WelTech’s Te Auaha School of Creativity in Wellington. She was legal counsel for South Pacific Pictures and has contributed to screen productions such as Miles from Nowhere, Mistress Mercy, NZ Idol, Street Hospital, Dragons in a Distant Land (produced in Mandarin and Cantonese for Chinese audiences) Sione’s Wedding, Whale Rider, Shortland Street, Maddigan’s Quest and Paradise Café.

In 2012 she was awarded the prestigious Private Sector In-House Lawyer of the Year Award by the New Zealand Law Society to recognise her contribution to the profession and to Gibson Group. Victoria won the Arts and Culture category at the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards in 2015 and in June 2016 was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to theatre, film and television in the Queen's 90th Birthday Honours List. She has degrees and graduate qualifications across theatre, film, law, management and linguistics.

Yolunda Hickman

Visual Arts Advisor

Yolunda Hickman is an artist working in the wider fields of painting. She is interested in the visual noise of contemporary life, and the slippage between classification, abstraction and meaning as we try to decipher the images and communication systems that fill our world.

Yolunda has exhibited extensively at artist spaces and public galleries throughout New Zealand. Highlights include Signal Forest, 4 Plinths, Wellington; Zombies Everywhere, Sumer, Tauranga; Shoaling, Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin; Legend, Window, Auckland; Size, Te Tuhi, Auckland. In 2020, she completed her doctoral thesis at Elam School of Fine Arts, the University of Auckland. She is Postgraduate Fine Arts Programme Leader at Whitecliffe, Auckland and is passionate about arts education to support creative and cultural conversations.

Evo Leota-Tupou

Board Intern

Evo Leota-Tupou, a social entrepreneur and a dedicated mother of five young children, is the founder of Pacific Kids' Learning in Ōtara, Auckland, with a focus on EdTech, Digital Learning, and STEAM. Actively engaged in EdTechNZ and Tech Women NZ, where she previously held leadership roles, she also contributes to Auckland Council's Pacific Advisory Panel and the National AI and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group for Te Whatu Ora.

A passionate advocate for neurodiverse learners and children with disabilities, Evo's dedication to inclusivity is reflected in her initiatives. Having spent time in South Korea before returning to Auckland, she keenly observed educational inequities and witnessed technological advancements in classrooms. This experience fueled her mission to bridge gaps and create positive community outcomes. Her efforts extend beyond traditional education to also embrace the richness of Pacific heritage, contributing to the promotion and support of emerging Pacific creatives.

Annual Reports

2023 Annual Report

Previous reports

Policies and Procedures

We have a range of policies and procedures covering various aspects of our business operations.

Our Constitution

Our constitution sets out our regulations to the conduct of Copyright Licensing New Zealand. Read it here. (pdf)

Code of Conduct

Our code of conduct sets out the standards of service that copyright owners and users can expect to receive when dealing with Copyright Licensing. Read our Code of Conduct (pdf).

Personal Information

Personal information is any information about an individual that can identify that individual. In relation to our business, it may include phone numbers, addresses and information concerning individual publishers, authors, licensees, informants or suspected copyright infringers. You can view our Privacy Policy here. We take our obligation to comply with the privacy principles set out in the Privacy Act very seriously. You can find out more about the privacy principles we adhere to.

Distribution Policy

We’re focused on helping owners of creative content earn a living from their work. The revenue we collect from licensing, after operating costs, is distributed to the owners of the works copied. For more information on how we distribute the money we collect from licensing, take a look at our Distribution Policy (pdf).

Legal Reserve Fund

Each year 1% of revenue from blanket licensing is allocated to the Legal Reserve Fund. Funds held in this reserve may be used to cover the costs of legal actions that are considered by the CLNZ Board to be strategically imporant to a group or groups of rightsholders. For more information on this, please take a look at our Legal Reserve Fund Policy (pdf).

Copyright Infringement Policy

We don't provide legal advice, only general information on copyright issues. Our Copyright Infringement Policy (pdf) outlines our approach to copyright compliance and infringement and provides guidance on how we will respond to allegations and evidence of copyright infringement. If you require expert or legal advice on copyright, you should seek the services of a legal professional.

Protected Disclosures Policy

This policy supports our commitment to high standards of compliance and ethics, without concern for reprisal. We encourage our people that are aware of wrongdoing to raise their concerns. For more information on this, please take a look at our Protected Disclosures Policy (pdf).

Compliments and Complaints

If you’ve had a great experience with us or have suggestions on how we could improve our services, we would love to hear from you. We want to provide a great service, so please include your name, contact details and a brief description of the situation. We will endeavour to get in touch with you within three working days. Please send feedback via our Get in touch page.

About Us

About Us

Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) plays a key role in making creative rights valuable assets for all New Zealanders, be they rightsholders (like authors, publishers and artists), or users such as educators and students.
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Kotahitanga - Working together

Kotahitanga - Working together

Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) operates Kotahitanga as a shared space for creatives to come together and collaborate, innovate, and connect.
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Who we work with

Who we work with

Copyright Licensing New Zealand is the sole, recognised Reproduction Rights Organisation (RRO) in New Zealand for text-based copyright material and a member of the global body, the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO).
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Governance, Policies & Annual Reports

Governance, Policies & Annual Reports

Copyright Licensing New Zealand was established in 1988 by Book Publishers Association of New Zealand and is now jointly owned by PANZ (formally BPANZ) and the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA).
Learn more
Our People

Our People

Our people are at the heart of what we do. We are comprised of a talented team of individuals bringing professionalism and dedication to our roles.
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News & Blogs

News & Blogs

Stay up to date with the latest news, announcements and blogs on a variety of copyright topics from Copyright Licensing.
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Case Studies

Case Studies

Copyright Licensing in action - a range of featured case studies from authors and licence owners that we work with.
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Get in touch

Get in touch

If you would like information on licensing or have a specific enquiry, please get in touch - we'd love to hear from you.
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