Catalogue by Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) is a free, secure, cloud-based platform that helps artists, writers, and makers document and organise their work, store contracts and records, and understand their creative rights all in one place – saving time, money, and future headaches.

In the creative industries, where time is scarce and admin often takes a back seat, Catalogue offers a simple, powerful solution. Catalogue offers a centralised, easy-to-use system for keeping your records in order, and your rights intact. Whether you’re a visual artist tracking exhibition agreements, a writer managing publishing contracts, or a designer licensing your work for reproduction, this tool, developed by CLNZ, is designed to help you.

What is CLNZ?

Copyright Licensing New Zealand is a not-for-profit organisation that manages and protects creative rights in Aotearoa. It works on behalf of authors, publishers, and artists to ensure they are fairly compensated when their copyrighted works are copied or shared. CLNZ provides licensing solutions for educational institutions, businesses, and other users, simplifying legal access to text-based content and visual arts. 

As New Zealand’s sole Reproduction Rights Organisation, it also distributes collected licence fees to rightsholders and supports the creative sector through grants, awards, and collaborative initiatives.

Why Catalogue?

Imagine a small independent publisher in Aotearoa preparing a new anthology of contemporary Pacific poetry. If Catalogue has been used in the process, the editor will be able to view all the agreements they had with contributors and use contact details to confirm any arrangements with them before finalising the manuscript. All the records they need to publish the anthology will be in one secure place.

Visual artists preparing for solo exhibitions can keep a record of each piece they will be exhibiting in the CLNZ Catalogue system. By cataloguing each piece with detailed metadata, title, medium, dimensions, and creation date, they ensure their work is properly documented, and that the documentation is stored safely and securely. This not only streamlines future licensing requests from curators and publishers but could also strengthen their professional portfolio when applying for grants or residencies. The system acts as both a safeguard and a tool to record works and agreements they have with collaborators and galleries.

Why record-keeping matters more than ever

According to a survey by CLNZ, only 12% of New Zealand creatives feel confident in their understanding of copyright and how it works for them (CLNZ TRA survey August 2022). That gap can lead to lost income, legal vulnerability, and missed opportunities. Catalogue tackles this head-on by offering:

• Secure storage for contracts and project records: Upload agreements, organise works into projects, and track key dates like rights reversion or contract expiry.
• Tailored copyright advice: Based on the details you provide, Catalogue delivers bite-sized, legally grounded guidance to help you understand what rights you’re granting or retaining.
• Subsidised legal support: Through CLNZ’s Legal Service, users can access discounted consultations with copyright experts, currently including free 15-minute sessions, thanks to support from Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

What catalogue does, and why it’s different

At its core, Catalogue is a digital filing cabinet tailored to the needs of creative professionals. It allows users to:

• Upload and store records of creative works, including images, manuscripts, and agreements
• Attach and manage legal agreements, such as publishing contracts, licensing deals, and exhibition terms.
• Track rights and permissions, including which rights have been granted, to whom, and when they expire.
• Set reminders for contract reviews, rights reversions, and other key dates.
• Access subsidised legal advice, with free 15-minute consultations and discounted follow-ups.

Unlike generic cloud storage or spreadsheet systems, Catalogue is purpose-built for the creative sector. It’s not just about storing files, it's about making sure you have accurate records at your fingertips, along with easy-to-understand copyright information and access to a supportive legal service, backed by experts at Copyright Licensing NZ.

Who it's for

• Visual artists: Track series, exhibitions, and licensing agreements.
• Writers and publishers: Manage publishing contracts, royalties, and global licences.
• Object makers and designers: Store documentation for commissioned work, collaborations, and IP claims.

For artists, writers, illustrators, and makers, the creative process is often deeply personal, intuitive, and nonlinear. But when it comes to keeping all records of your work, in an increasingly complex world Catalogue can help.

For now, signing up is free, the Standard/Free membership gives you 10 projects with an unlimited number of works allowed within each project, and a total storage limit of 20GB. Premium/paid members get unlimited projects and unlimited total storage. Visit catalogue.nz to get started.

Saving time, money, and stress

Many artists still rely on ad hoc systems: folders on a hard drive, paper contracts in a drawer, or email chains buried in an inbox. These methods are fragile, fragmented, and easy to lose track of – especially over the long arc of a creative career.

Catalogue streamlines this process. By centralising your records, it reduces the time spent hunting for documents, chasing contract terms, or trying to remember what rights you’ve granted. It also helps you avoid costly mistakes, like missing a reversion deadline or failing to assert your copyright in a dispute.

And because it’s backed by CLNZ, a not-for-profit organisation with deep expertise in copyright, it’s designed with the realities of New Zealand’s creative economy in mind. NZSA members even receive a 50% discount on paid plans.

Signing up is simple. Visit https://catalogue.nz/ to create a free account and start uploading your projects. You can begin with a single work, say, a manuscript or a series of illustrations, and attach any relevant agreements. From there, you can build a searchable, secure archive of your creative output.

If you’re unsure about a contract or need help understanding your rights, you can also book a free legal consultation through the platform. CLNZ offers a Legal Service that provides free legal guidance to New Zealand creatives and producers on copyright-related matters. 

This service helps rightsholders understand their rights, resolve disputes, and navigate licensing issues, as part of CLNZ’s broader mission to support and protect the creative sector through education, advocacy, and fair remuneration. CLNZ’s legal service is subsidised by Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, making it accessible to independent creators.

Why it matters

In an era of generative AI, global licensing, and digital reuse, the value of your creative work depends not just on its quality, but on your ability to commercialise your rights and manage agreements. Catalogue gives you the infrastructure to keep records for that.

While it’s not something people like to think about, Catalogue is also useful for legal situations like divorce and succession planning, where there is a need to understand and be able to quickly access records and licensing contracts, rights reversions and other agreements.

Whether you are creating full-time or part-time, you are a creator, and your work has value. A sustainable business practice starts with recognizing the mana in your work and keeping good records, because you never know when someone else might want to licence it.

It has always been a challenge for sole traders and small businesses to stay on top of cataloguing their work, but Catalogue does. It’s clean, intuitive, and built for the messy realities of creative life. Whether you’re a poet with publishing contracts or a sculptor licensing work for public display, Catalogue helps you keep track of what matters and reclaim the time and energy to focus on thinking and making.

Catalogue helps you stay organised, keeping contracts and details in one easy-to-access portal If you’ve ever wasted time looking for a contract, needed to remember a licencing expiry date or wanted a safe place to compile paperwork (like collaboration agreements, licensing contracts, sales invoices and other documents), it’s time to give Catalogue a try. Your future self, and your creative legacy, will thank you.

This article was created in partnership with Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ), an organisation that helps make creative rights work for all New Zealanders.