AGICOA was set up in 1981 as an international non-governmental organization, to defend audio visual producers' copyrights, especially in the area of cable TV and similar retransmission means.

As a neutral and non-profit institution, AGICOA acts in various countries to collect and to distribute the payments of royalties to the producers of audio visual works and/or their rightsholders. In some countries, where free negotiations have been substituted by compulsory rulings, AGICOA claims and collects remuneration. Whenever there is retransmission of an audiovisual work by cable or by similar means, a remuneration is due. It is AGICOA's task to obtain payment of these royalties and to redistribute them to the producers entitled thereto, after proper data processing based on TV channels reports of the countries involved.

AGICOA operates on a mere cost basis, deductible from its payments of royalties which represents 11% in average.