It's been a remarkably busy year, hasn't it? Despite being just four people, our small team has organised five successful events, supported two Brussels' screenings, contributed to eight consultations and written 18 news articles and six blog posts about our activities, in addition to our internal work with the members (statutory meetings, working groups, workshops, etc.) and many travels for me. It's been a lot of work, but we've also very much enjoyed celebrating the SAA's 15th anniversary!
Before we close the year, here is a summary of our activities in December:
Since 2023, the SAA and CISAC have been advocating for an evidence-based understanding of how screenwriters' and directors' rights function and deliver remuneration for the exploitation of their works on different media around the world. First, we had to argue for the need for such a study, then identify member states interested in pursuing the proposal and request that it be introduced on the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) agenda. My experience of EU advocacy proved useful, even though I had to scale up and navigate different politics of WIPO’s states and regional groups in Geneva. After much negotiation, the 47th session of WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) adopted on 5 December the African group's proposal (special thanks to Côte d'Ivoire for making it possible) for a global study on 'The Rights of Audiovisual Authors and their Payment Mechanisms for the Exploitation of their Works'. Not only was I very pleased with the decision, but it was equally gratifying to see that the WIPO secretariat was eager to start working on it immediately!
On 8 December, my colleague Annica participated in the EU Commission's high-level roundtable on artists' working conditions, alongside Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu, Commissioner Glenn Micallef, and EP Committee Chairs Li Andersson (Employment) and Nela Riehl (Culture). She highlighted the two most critical challenges facing authors' rights in Europe: fragmentation and the impact of GenAI. She also presented the SAA's proposed solutions to these challenges, including closing loopholes, championing statutory remuneration rights, defending authorisation and remuneration, and ensuring transparency in the use of copyright-protected works by AI. In light of its review, she emphasised the importance of maintaining and strengthening the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).
At the Brussels screening of “Mr Nobody against Putin” by David Borenstein and Pasha Talankin, organised by the European Film Agency Directors Association (EFAD) in partnership with the Danish Film Institute, the EU Danish Presidency and European associations including the SAA, a short panel discussion was held about how the AVMSD enables creation. As Tine Fischer, the CEO of the Danish Film Institute, said, this powerful film would not have been possible without the European framework made of strong national frameworks, including the AVMSD, and the Creative Europe MEDIA programme.
This month, we also met with our members to discuss our contribution to the EU Commission's call for evidence on the impact and added value of the AVMSD rules, as part of the directive's review process. Later, my colleague Luisiana and I met with the consultant in charge. We made it very clear that the SAA and its members defend the AVMSD, particularly given the worrying trend of EU regulation being targeted and the audiovisual landscape being reshaped by US platforms on the VOD market. If the Directive were to be reopened, we would want the provisions on the promotion of European works to be strengthened to provide better protection for our shared space of creative expression and cultural diversity. Read our contribution here.
About a year ago, I participated in the first meeting of the copyright working group involved in the drafting of the Code of Practice for General Purpose AI models. Our main point was that the text and data mining (TDM) exception of the EU Copyright directive was not designed with GenAI in mind. In fact, most CMOs and rightholders consider the TDM exception 'unimplementable' (read more). Last week, we were invited to a workshop on the feasibility of the creation of a registry of TDM opt-outs. We were surprised that the study to assess the feasibility of such a registry was already so advanced and technically developed, while rightholders have been very critical of the project. Indeed, as most professional authors and artists want to opt-out, such a registry would become a registry of copyright-protected works, a formality that is forbidden by the international treaty for the protection of literary and artistic works (the Berne convention). In addition, all discussions on a registry divert attention from the real issue: that AI companies are training their models on copyrighted works without authorisation, remuneration and transparency. The study's outcome remains to be seen. So does the Commission's next move.
Before the holidays, I recommend reading Annica's blog post featuring Kiril Gjozev, the Secretary General of AZAS, with whom we co-organised a regional seminar in Skopje last month to support audiovisual authors’ collective management organisations in Central and Eastern Europe. Authors have been waiting seven years already to be remunerated for the audiovisual works being exploited in North Macedonia, and despite national, regional and international pressure, progress on this issue remains blocked. We will continue supporting AZAS and other audiovisual authors’ CMOs in the Balkans with diverse activities next year.
Thank you to all our CMO members, patrons, partners and friends for your engagement and support. We look forward to continuing to work with you in 2026! The SAA team is now taking a well-deserved break, and we will be back in early January.
Best wishes,
Cécile
