Société des Auteurs Audiovisuels
Society of Audiovisual Authors

SAA, which represents authors throughout Europe who are members of collecting societies; FERA, which represents European film and television directors; and FSE which represents European screenwriters, are united in our commitment to facilitating production and distribution of our members’ work based on legal clarity and fair remuneration.

We are committed to internet culture, we are determined to play our part in its development, and we want our work to be seen on as many European screens as possible. It is the creative talent of our members which will appeal to audiences online and across borders and create the demand that will fuel business innovation, employment creation and the many benefits which flow from an active cultural environment. This talent deserves fair reward.

AN END TO BUYOUTS

Above all, we are seeking an end to the buyout contracts that deprive our members of so much legitimate income. Buyout contracts force authors to accept payments that take little or no account of subsequent use. They divorce the creator from the success of the work.

The recent European Court of Justice ruling[1] against ‘Cessio Legis’ is an important step forward, but it is only a start. We are appealing for EU legislation to make buyouts illegal, initially for online use and eventually for all means of distribution. The moral argument is the same in both: authors should be allowed to share in the success of their work. This will allow them to survive and do more work: in effect, it’s a virtuous circle.

UNWAIVABLE AND ENFORCEABLE RIGHTS

Our online ‘Making Available’ Right[2], taken in buyout contracts and exploited for a decade, in many cases without payment, should now be made enforceable, allowing negotiation of rates for online use.

Where this exclusive right is transferred to the producer, we ask for the enactment of an unwaivable Right to Equitable Remuneration payable to authors, for online use at first, and in due course for all means of distribution. This would be collectively negotiated, and depending on territory would function either as a benchmark rate underpinning local contractual negotiations, or as an actual rights payment collected and distributed by collecting societies. Our members have experience of both systems.

COLLECTIVE SOLUTIONS AND THE RIGHT TO NEGOTIATE

Flexibility will be essential, to reflect our differing legal cultures; but not the kind of ‘flexibility’ that merely allows producers and financiers to impose one sided contracts on individual authors with impunity. Most authors’ contracts are currently signed under considerable pressure. It is time to redress the balance of power.

It is also essential that the Commission reverses the current undermining of free negotiation by some competition authorities, for instance in Ireland and the Netherlands. In a free society, the representatives of creators must be permitted to bargain collectively and agree appropriate rates and conditions.

GOVERNANCE

We welcome the imminent publication of an EU Directive on the governance of collecting societies and are determined to remain in the vanguard of efforts for greater transparency, efficiency and democracy in collective management. However, delays on resolving governance issues should not be an excuse for policy makers to shy away from strong, urgent and immediate support for solutions to the problem of fair payment.

PIRACY AND FREEDOM

Our associations emphatically reject the insinuations of the pirate lobby (and some powerful internet operators) that simply to require payment for use constitutes some kind of ‘attack on free speech’! This sophistry needs to be resisted by all, the Commission and Parliament in particular. Bullying is not less immoral for being practised by large movements.

European audiovisual authors will not stand idly by and see their industry destroyed. We speak out for democracy, and for the principle of Fair Trade. ‘Free access – but not for free!’

The study authored by Lorenzo, Padilla and Requejo, economists at Compass Lexecon ("Compass Lexecon” study) undertakes an economic analysis of “The welfare effects of private copying levies” and shows that the claims about the welfare impact and other implications of removing the private copying remuneration system do not stand up to scrutiny.

Compass Lexecon had been requested by a group of rightholders organisations to analyse and provide an economic opinion on a previous study commissioned by Nokia and issued by Oxera in April 2011. The “Compass Lexecon” study reveals that the Oxera study was based on wrong assumptions and underlines that the removal of private copying remuneration would neither produce the alleged benefits, nor result in a win-win situation as argued by Oxera.
The key findings of the “Compass Lexecon” study with regard to the consequences of removing private copying schemes are as follows:
- Rightholders would clearly be worse off, since they would lose the revenues generated by the levy and their incentive to create new high quality content would decrease. In addition, rightholders would not benefit from the supposed increase in sales of recording devices resulting from the elimination of the remuneration.

- The hardware manufacturers’ revenues might decrease in the long term. As the rightholders’ incentive to invest in new content and the availability of creative content would fall following the removal of private copying remuneration, this would consequently reduce the appeal of copying devices.
- Consumers would be worse off in the long term as the removal of remuneration would lead to less investment in content and hence reduce the availability and quality of content.

Compass Lexecon’s analysis indicates that Oxera’s assumptions are incorrect and that their conclusion as regards the win-win nature of a policy that eliminates private copying remuneration is flawed.

Moreover, data presented in Oxera’s own study as well as calculations made by Compass Lexecon show that the level of copyright remuneration has a strong influence on content creation, but no real impact on – and therefore does not hinder – the state of development of the digital market. The development of digital music sales is actually linked (i.e. strongly correlated in statistical terms) to other factors such as GDP growth rate per capita, number of internet users and/or development and penetration of Internet broadband access within the population of the various Member States.

The study therefore proves that there is an economic justification of and welfare benefits from private copying remuneration. The legal justification of this remuneration has long been recognised by EU law and by recent judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The delegation, which included prominent authors Robert Alberdingk Thijm (A’dam E.V.A), Fred Breinersdorfer (Sophie Scholl), Bertrand Tavernier (The Princess of Montpensier) and Susanna White (Generation Kill), met Vice-President Kroes in Brussels on 22nd February.

Recognising that it is their creativity that is driving the demand for faster and better connectivity across Europe, they called on Vice President Kroes, responsible for the European Commission’s digital strategy, to guarantee that the new online market benefits consumers and authors.  Both win by using the internet to help Europe’s creators’ works reach a wider audience but this is also an opportunity to guarantee authors a fair deal and redress the imbalance that had formed in the physical market.

They welcomed previous public statements of support from the Commissioner and called for a voice in political discussions on their issues as well as continued support for Europe’s cinematographic diversity through production support and consistent low VAT rates for all audiovisual formats which would boost Europe’s online market.

The delegation made the case for European legislation linking authors to the success of their creativity as proposed by SAA in its White Paper. This would give them the incentive to make more works and encourage them to produce them in Europe with all the economic effects that that implies.

The Commissioner acted quickly by inviting an author to participate in her Media Futures Forum.  SAA Patron Robert Alberdingk Thijm accepted the invitation.

Quotes

Fred Breinersdorfer, renowned director and member of SAA’s Board of Patrons said “As authors we want to be able to focus on creating and presenting our stories.  If we are to be able to do that in the future we need legislative support.  That means being given a place in discussions and legislative measures that protect us from ourselves, our weak negotiating position and our enthusiasm to get our films made. Our discussion was very constructive and I hope it continues.”

Cécile Despringre, Executive Director, SAA added “The success of the internet comes and will continue to come from the great films and TV shows that people want to watch through it.  This is what is going to drive the next generations of network infrastructure and the take up of cloud computing. It seems only fair that the creators behind this ‘content’ are recognised appropriately.”

Janine Lorente, SACD Deputy Director General and Chair of the SAA Board of Directors added “Our meeting with Commissioner Kroes was very encouraging.  We look forward to continuing to work with her services and trying to find the combination of market lead and legislative solutions that will achieve our common goal of a thriving European audiovisual market that gives Europe’s film fans real access to our authors’ creative works.”

L'ARP, la SAA et la SACD sont heureuses d’accueillir lundi 20 février à 20h au Cinéma des Cinéastes, le réalisateur norvégien Joachim Trier, pour l’avant-première de son film Oslo 31 août, à l'occasion de la première édition du cycle de soirées Les cinéastes invitent… l’ami européen.

L’objectif de ces soirées est d’encourager les échanges culturels entre la France et les autres pays européens à travers la projection d’un film en avant-première, suivie d’un débat avec le réalisateur invité, sur l’aspect artistique du film, comme sur les spécificités des différents cinémas européens : conditions de financement et aides pour réaliser un film dans le pays concerné, circulation des films de ce pays en Europe, circulation des films français dans ce pays, problématiques des coproductions entre la France et le pays invité, application du droit d’auteur...

Ainsi, à l’issue de la projection, une discussion avec Joachim Trier sera animée par Janine Lorente, Directrice Générale Adjointe de la SACD et Présidente de la SAA, et Jean-Paul Salomé, Président de L’ARP.

L'ARP, la SAA et la SACD remercient chaleureusement Memento Films, distributeur du film en France, et l’Ambassade de Norvège en France, partenaire de cette soirée.

Une deuxième soirée accueillera le cinéaste italien Emanuele Crialese, pour l’avant-première de Terra Ferma, mardi 13 mars 2012 à 20h.

Paris, le 15 février 2012

SAA has been a member of the platform,  which was set up at the initiative of the European Commission following its Communication on a European Agenda in 2007, since 2010.  The platform’s initial aim was to bring together a diverse range of actors from the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) to produce broad recommendations to feed into European decision making processes which brings together EU Member States in the field of culture.  Following the publication of these recommendations in 2009 (see here) the platform continued its work, focussing on areas that need urgent action at European level and culminating in the publication of new recommendations in 2011 (see here). The platform’s next task will be to promote these recommendations and raise the profile of the sector as a whole among decision makers.

Cécile Despringre said: “One of the first things SAA did after being created was to join the platform.  Directors and screenwriters like all creators are at the heart of the cultural and creative industries and SAA looks forward to working with the broader cultural and creative sector to promote their interests and show to decision makers how investing in culture and creation can drive Europe’s growth and create jobs while continuing to develop Europe’s cultural heritage and bringing further societal benefits.”

More information here.