The new Copyright legislation: Making the most for next generation authors

On 25 November the SAA organised an online event with testimonies from filmmakers about the struggles they face in the pandemic era and with reactions from the European Parliament, Member States representatives and experts.

The recording can be watched here

Read the Take-Aways from the event

It goes without saying that the cultural and creative sectors are facing a long uphill battle to recover from COVID-19, and it will take a long time until cinemas, film and TV production will be up and running again. This uncertain environment makes it particularly difficult for young authors to start a career while established ones are still struggling to make a living. Despite praiseworthy recovery plans for the cultural sector in some countries, there is a general lack of awareness of the crucial need to tackle the issues, pre-existing and exacerbated by the crisis, that authors face in their professional life which prevent them to develop their talent to its full potential, such as the lack of a professional status, buy-out contracts and denial of royalties for the exploitation of their works. However, the future is not all bleak.

This new EU Copyright Directive is a historic opportunity for audiovisual authors that must be seized now. It will take a long time until there will be such an EU reform again. Looking back, the last comprehensive Copyright Directive dates back to 2001, 19 years ago. The implementation of this Directive is the chance to get national Copyright legislation right for the next generation of authors.

Guests

Read their biographies here.

Moderator: Samuel Stolton, Digital Affairs Reporter at EURACTIV

Adriana Moscoso del Prado Hernández, Director of Cultural Industries, Intellectual Property and Cooperation, Ministry of Culture, Spain
Helga Trüpel, former Member of the European Parliament (the Greens/Germany)
Jochem Donker, General Counsel, LIRA (SAA member), The Netherlands
Alexis Georgoulis, Member of the European Parliament (GUE/Greece)

Testimonies from filmmakers (SAA Patrons)

Urša Menart (Screenwriter and Director, Slovenia)
Julie Bertuccelli (Director, France)
Roger Michell (Director, UK)

Video message from the European Parliament's Cultural Creators Friendship Group

#WeLoveAuthors #Art18DSM

SAA - Society of Audiovisual Authors