SAA - Society of Audiovisual Authors

The Serbian Film Authors Organisation, UFUS AFA Protection, is the sole collective management organisation for authors of cinematographic and television works in Serbia. Stefan Gelineo, the Director, previously worked as a film director himself. This first-hand experience of the difficult working conditions of audiovisual authors in Serbia, drives his mission to build a bridge between the audiovisual authors that UFUS AFA represents and the audiovisual industry.

“I’m happy that the Serbian film industry is doing well, but authors aren’t paid enough to make a living”, Stefan Gelineo explained. “Royalties is the bridge that enables authors to get from one project to another work, as each film takes several years to make.”

From 100 to 600 members, and a first legal victory

When UFUS AFA was established in 2014, significant time was invested in explaining its work to Serbian screenwriters and directors. Their membership grew quickly from 100 to over 600 today and continues to rise. This does not surprise me, UFUS AFA is one the SAA’s most active members in terms of communicating about their activities and meetings. They even produce a magazine in both Serbian and English. See the January 2025 edition including an interview with Cécile Despringre, SAA Secretary General.

UFUS AFA’s first priority after being established was to persuade cable operators to pay authors. They began this work in 2017 and completed it in December last year by signing the final contract with the operators, achieving 100% market coverage. UFUS AFA was the first Serbian CMO to take the operators to court in 2021 after they refused to comply. After several years, they won almost all their cases, with the court ruling that cable operators must acquire rights and pay authors. “These tariffs are a very small percentage for the industry”, Stefan Gelineo noted, “but they mean a lot for individual authors”.

Copyright reform: still a long way to go

As a part of Serbia’s accession process, the government must report on implementing EU legislation, in areas including intellectual property law, digital transformation, media, education, culture and freedom of expression (Report 2025). However, they still have a long way to go. The current draft copyright law only aligns with the 2014 Collective Rights Management Directive, not the 2019 Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive nor SatCab II Directive. Adoption of this draft has been stalled for now. UFUS AFA wants it to comply with the recent EU legislation, including the ‘fair remuneration’ principle from the 2019 directive. It also wants to ensure that the retransmission right is technologically neutral and is pushing for the government working group to be reinstated and for filmmakers to be included in consultations.

Stevan Pajović explained that the Serbian Ministry considers itself to have more pressing priorities, such as media freedom. “They don’t consider authors’ rights to be a problem - it’s not their money”.

Strength in numbers

“Only together is it possible to make a change”, which is why UFUS AFA joined the SAA in 2024. Given that Serbia’s population is just 6.6 million, Stefan Gelineo emphasised that they cannot work alone.

“Collective management organisations in the region must work together with each other and with Europe at large.” He cited the example of how the SAA’s letter to the Serbian government supported their efforts to get cable operators to pay authors. Stevan Pajović added that learning from other SAA members who are further ahead on authors’ rights and copyright protection is invaluable. The SAA serves as an important hub for CMOs to connect and exchange information.

UFUS AFA work closely also with Serbian partners including the Film Centre of Serbia, the Intellectual Property Office, and professional associations for directors, cinematographers, and documentary filmmakers. Moreover, they have bilateral agreements with CMOs in several countries.

After years of work, audiovisual authors in Serbia are finally being paid by cable operators for the retransmission of their work. UFUS AFA is now pursuing rights for broadcasting, making available to the public, including through online streaming platforms, as well as fair share of the private copying levy. UFUS AFA will not be able to take on the issue of generative AI being trained on copyrighted works until all these rights have been secured; a battle that the SAA and many of its members are already engaged in. “For continued success, CMOs in the region must unite and act as one big market”, concluded Stefan Gelineo.

Annica Ryng

Public Affairs and Communication Director, SAA

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