SAA Flash Report: Authors receive 0.53% of €141B European AV market
News
4 February 2026
Secretary General's Digest
February 2026
Monthly digests
February has been one of those months where the calendar looked impossible and yet, somehow, everything got done. As a European association, it's that time of year when we are preparing for our annual General Assembly meeting in mid-March. I have been working with Elise, our Finance Manager, to prepare the accounts for the audit. I have also been busy putting together the detailed activity report. This time around, we have also worked on changes to the statutes to better fit the evolution of our growing membership, in consultation with the board and the notary. I also travelled to Berlin for a few days, and defended EU funding for the audiovisual sector in the Parliament.
SAA Flash Report - numbers that speak for themselves
This month, we published our first Flash Report, which visualises the evolution of the European audiovisual market and the royalties collected by our members on behalf of the authors. The report reveals that audiovisual authors' royalties represent just 0.53% of the €141 billion European market, while non-European players capture 89% of streaming and VSPs’ revenues. We use it to show the negative impact of a fragmented European market on audiovisual authors and to advocate for harmonised authors' rights. I welcome you to do the same!
Related
Belgian Constitutional Court’s hearing in the Netflix case
On 11 February, I attended the public hearing organised by the Belgian Constitutional Court regarding the Netflix case, in front of its 12 judges. For reference, the SAA joined the Belgian professional organisations of authors, performers, and producers in supporting the French-speaking Community's decree implementing the AVMS Directive, particularly its provisions regarding the financial obligations of audiovisual media operators.
Although the procedure before the Belgian Constitutional Court is primarily written (we submitted two sets of briefs), a hearing may introduce new elements to the case before a decision is made. The lawyers for Netflix and Disney chose to reiterate their arguments against the production decree, namely that it pursues economic objectives rather than cultural ones, which they claim is in violation of EU law, including the AVMS Directive.
For our part, the lawyers representing the French speaking Community explained that the caricatured portrayal of the attacked decree concealed an objective of deregulation aligned with the US administration. They emphasised that Netflix and Disney were concerned about similar systems spreading across Europe and highlighted the intention of the companies to use the Belgian case to test the CJEU. They also referred to the December ruling in case C-366/24 Amazon v. French Ministry of Culture which validated the cultural diversity objective of a French measure that had been contested by Amazon on the same grounds as Netflix and Disney. Using fresh data from the European Audiovisual Observatory, our own lawyer demonstrated that Netflix and Disney would not produce local original works without an investment obligation and that the decree is proportionate and non-discriminatory, rather than isolated or revolutionary. A decision is expected by the summer. The key question is whether the Court will request a preliminary ruling from the CJEU.
Freezing weather, heated debates in Berlin
As I do every year, I went to Berlin mid-month. First, I attended the annual Cineuropa meeting, where I was pleased to be re-elected as President for my final term. Later, the SAA executives and board representatives met with our colleagues of FERA and FSE. This was followed by our board meeting at the premises of our German member and host, VG WORT. Despite the many items on the agenda, AI continued to dominate the discussion, with updates on court developments and the work of the EU institutions, including the drafting of a new Code of Practice on labelling of AI content and the European Parliament's report on AI and Copyright.
After our meetings, Annica and I attended several events at the Berlinale, including an interesting discussion by CISAC and VG Bild-Kunst on the topic of 'sustaining AV creators in a shifting market: the economic power of authors’ rights'. While all the speakers were interesting, I would particularly recommend reading the excellent opening speech by Ángeles González-Sinde Reig. She makes the important point that "when you can't live from your work, only those who can afford to work for free survive," and warns that without strong authors' rights, culture becomes a privilege rather than a democratic space. You can read more about the events that we participated on Annica's LinkedIn, where she shared her 'Berlin diary' reflections in a couple of posts.
AgoraEU: 4 things Parliament needed to hear
Back in Brussels, I took part in a stakeholders' dialogue about the AgoraEU programme for the next EU budget. The event was jointly organised by the Parliament's Culture and Civil Liberties committees. In addition to supporting my colleagues' calls for earmarking and links with the AVMS Directive, I made four points: Firstly, the film and audiovisual sectors are cultural and creative sectors. AgoraEU makes an artificial distinction between 'cultural and creative sectors' and 'audiovisual and video games industries', and between 'cultural works' and 'European content'. Secondly, the MEDIA brand, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary, should be preserved. Thirdly, the European model of authors’ rights must be defended against the increased role played by US on-demand services in the European market. Fourthly, AgoraEU should support an ethical and transparent use of AI.
Finally, a warm thank you to Virginia, who has just finished her internship with us and will return to Rome. We wish her all the best in her future career!
Warm regards,
Cécile