SAA - Society of Audiovisual Authors

With my internship at the SAA coming to an end, I have been reflecting on some of the many challenges facing audiovisual authors, drawing on the topics I have explored, the stakeholder events I've attended, and the research and position papers that I have read over the past five months.

To start, public funding is crucial for the cultural sector, which is why the EU negotiations over the 2028-34 Multiannual Financial Framework are so important. But for European culture to thrive, the audiovisual sector must also secure its survival in the digital age through targeted policies.

The EU Parliament’s, Council’s and Commission’s Joint Declaration, 'Europe for Culture-Culture for Europe', shows strong political commitment to making culture a central part of the European project. This aligns with the words of Catherine Magnant, Head of the Cultural Policies Unit at the European Commission: ‘Culture is both a sector and a vector for other policies’, during the Creative FLIP Final Conference on 9 June.

In parallel, discussions on the implementation of the proposed AgoraEU programme for 2028-2034 have started. The challenge will be to ensure that the political ambition to protect artists and establish Europe as a 'global cultural powerhouse', as Commissioner Micallef detailed on 18 June in Strasbourg, translates into well-funded support.

The rise of digital distribution has created new opportunities for European works to travel and reach broader audiences, multiplying content channels beyond mainstream broadcasting. However, it has also intensified concerns over fair remuneration, transparency, and discoverability of European works. While the joint declaration recognises these issues, its success will depend on whether future funding instruments will be part of a regulatory framework able to counter these legitimate concerns.

From words to action

The declaration calls for 'fair conditions for artists and cultural professionals'. Although culture is priceless, the sector still needs sufficient funding to materialise creative workers’ projects and secure fair remuneration.

Funding programmes are truly complementary to legislation. AgoraEU is an opportunity to encourage good practices through funding conditions: criteria could emphasise more transparency, respect for authors’ rights, a ban on buyout contracts for authors, and effective remuneration mechanisms. This approach would encourage higher standards among beneficiaries and set precedence in EU member states to carry on such good practices.

While AgoraEU aims to ‘support the creation of European audiovisual works across multiple formats and genres […] to reach diverse audiences across borders’ through the MEDIA+ strand, this cannot be achieved without sufficient support for, and understanding of, the European audiovisual market.

Contrary to the Commission’s proposal, MEP Emma Rafowicz, rapporteur of the Culture Committee's draft report on AgoraEU, proposes a clear distinction between the specificity of the film and audiovisual sector and music, books, video games and journalism. Among other improvements, she proposes a requirement on the beneficiaries to comply with the DSM Directive and for activities to be exclusively for human creative contribution with transparency and remuneration. The SAA and audiovisual authors await the adoption of the report, which is subject to substantial amendments.

Transparency in the age of AI

AI tools have become more integrated into production and may help artists materialise certain ideas. But isn’t the struggle of creating something part of the creating process? Publicly funded projects should be encouraged to disclose how such tools have been used, including the extent of AI assistance within the creative process.

The joint declaration emphasises the importance of transparency as essential for copyright protection and enforcement of audiovisual authors’ remuneration rights. Thus, the SAA calls for limiting the text and data mining copyright exceptions to exclude generative AI, enforcing strict transparency obligations on AI companies, and establishing a CMO-managed remuneration right for AI training and outputs.

‘Providing more transparency, including user control, over these systems can demystify the path to discovery’, as recommended in the Study on the discoverability of diverse European cultural content in the digital environment.

This reporting would not copy existing rules like the EU’s AI Act. Instead, it would help make AI use more transparent and responsible, and, over time, contribute to a better evidence base for cultural and digital policy.

Ultimately, we must ensure that AI is a technology that prioritises people and improves our lives. Amendments to AgoraEU, alongside structured consultations with cultural and creative workers, are therefore necessary. This perfectly aligns with the comments made by MEP Hélder Sousa Silva during the Joint Declaration debate that transparency in content origin should be actively promoted, so authentic human artistic expression can be clearly distinguished from content produced by automated systems.

Discoverability as a policy objective

'Being online isn't enough anymore. Being discoverable is the name of the game. Visibility has become a currency shaped by platforms and curation systems’, according to Glenn Micallef, EU Commissioner for Culture, at a conference on discoverability on 20 April.

Although member states’ cultural and audiovisual policies strongly support the production of local films, series, and documentaries, ensuring the cross-border circulation and discoverability of these works is still a challenge. While the 30% quota for European works on streaming platforms is very low, it still guarantees a threshold presence.

European titles often struggle for visibility within foreign markets, lacking the prominence needed to capture international audiences due to algorithmic filtering, which mostly favours global and often American content. This leaves potential viewers unaware of the vast cultural catalogue available to them.

This aspect emphasises the complex place European audiovisual policy occupies within the cultures of DG Connect and DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. It is an artificial distinction that causes problems: audiovisual matters are often treated as industrial and media issues rather than cultural ones, while culture remains siloed from technological ones. Commissioner Micallef is attempting to address this in his AI strategy.

Conclusion: A bridge between cultural and digital policy

In their declaration, the EU institutions recognised that cultural policy cannot be considered in isolation from digital policy. Questions about copyright, AI, platform governance, and media pluralism are shaping the conditions under which European authors create and share their works.

AgoraEU is an opportunity to ensure that public investment supports broader objectives such as transparency and fair remuneration in the digital environment. As Kristin Danielsen, CEO of the Nordic Culture Fund, said at the Creative FLIP Final Conference, we should be 'rooting for artistic intelligence, not artificial intelligence'.

The SAA is joining forces with audiovisual stakeholders to call for increased funding levels and aligned funding mechanisms with transparency, fairness, and discoverability objectives audiovisual authors are fighting for. AgoraEU could truly become an indissociable link between cultural policy and the realities of the less human-centred digital world we are entering. Ultimately, the effectiveness of Europe's cultural strategy will depend more on the practical choices made during implementation than on political declarations.

Maxence Bernard

Intern at the SAA, spring 2026