does not reflect actual/typical turnout. For example, Scheffler's venue has a capacity of 2,000 people, but nonetheless turnout usually hovers at around 500 visitors. But with the new tariff reforms, he will have to pay for 2000 guests, even if they do not show up in those numbers. Due to this, Scheffler plans to quit organizing disco-format events, since he will have to pay €60,000 instead of €3,000 starting in 2013. In a letter to GEMA, the head of the Senatskanzlei Berlin (), state secretary Björn Böhning, called for a reconsideration of their plans. According to Böhning, Berlin has a creative and innovative music scene, for which clubs and concerts are important. These require affordable licensing fee rates as a basis for their business operations. An online petition protesting the GEMA tariff reforms, initiated by event promoter Matthias Rauh (of giga event''), was launched shortly after the announcement of the new tariffs in April 2012, closed on 3 October with 305,122 signatures (of which 284,569 were signed with a German address), and presented to Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger on 13 December 2012. A week later, on 20 December 2012, both GEMA and announced in press statements that they had reached an interim agreement that would delay the implementation of the tariff reforms for a year (until 1 January 2014)—allowing another year to negotiate further over the licensing fee structures—and during the year 2013 all flat-rate event licensing fees will go up by 5% (and, on 1 April 2013, fees will rise a further 10% for discos and clubs). German Music Authors' Prize Since 2009, GEMA has been granting the annual German Music Authors' Prize (). With the motto, "Authors Honor Authors" (), the award ceremony takes place in Berlin with about 300 guests in attendance from the worlds of music, culture, business, media, and politics. This award recognizes composers and lyricists for the outstanding quality of their work. The award is conferred in ten categories, and the honorees are selected by an independent jury of experts: composers, lyricists, and producers from a variety of musical genres. The award for the "up-and-coming" category comes with a monetary prize amounting to €10,000. All other categories bestow non-monetary awards. See also Bureau International de l'Edition Mecanique Cultural Commons Collecting Society GÜFA Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) References External links Music licensing organizations 1947 establishments in Germany Music organisations based in Germany