Blog
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Secretary General's March Digest, 2025
AI and the EU Code of Practice, preparing for our co-organised side event in Geneva, meeting with MEPs and news from the SAA Board of Patrons. Read SAA Secretary General Cécile Despringre's March digest.
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AI opt-out system won't help authors' remuneration
On 7 March, I was invited by the Hellenic Copyright Organisation to a conference they organised for their 30th anniversary in Athens. Many prominent copyright experts gave valuable presentations on copyright and AI, while I participated in a roundtable on Copyright and Collective Management in the Age of AI.
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Meet our member: ZAPA in Poland
For a long time, the Polish film community mobilised to get royalties for on-demand and online use of their works. Together with young filmmakers, ZAPA was at the forefront of this success. I connected with Dominik Skoczek, ZAPA’s Managing Director, from his office in Warsaw to speak about his work and the Polish EU Presidency that started on 1st January. A sports injury prevented him from attending the last SAA Board meeting in person. Besides football sneakers, Skoczek has stepped into many shoes during his professional career, giving him a unique experience and understanding of the creative sector.
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Secretary General's February Digest, 2025
February saw the start of my travels with the Berlinale, and AI remained high on our agenda. My team and I have spent a lot of time responding to consultations and writing joint statements. In the face of the big tech industry, our individual advocacy efforts may seem too small to make a difference, but I firmly believe the saying that 'small streams make great rivers'. Together with authors and partner organisations, we will continue to reiterate our message for authorisation, remuneration and transparency of Generative AI.
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AI and copyright: is a licensing market just a question of time?
What transpires from recent news about Meta’s use of a pirate website to train its AI model is certainly not good news for authors. Indeed, very disappointed but not surprised, the authors have entered 2025 with a further confirmation that protected works have been and will continue to be used without their authorisation. The news arrives at a crucial and turbulent time for the EU and its authors, for at least two reasons: the battle on interpretation of the text-and-data mining exception and the drafting process of the AI Code of Practice.
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Secretary General's January Digest, 2025
Although the days are slowly getting longer, I must admit that the way the world is going, I am feeling rather gloomy about what this year will bring. At the same time, I remain positive about what my dedicated team and our committed member organisations can achieve together!
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Interview with Cecile Despringre by UFUS AFA in Serbia
Read the interview by UFUS AFA PROTECTION's (the Serbian Film Authors Organisation) with Cecile Despringre, SAA Secretary General, for the January issue of their Bulletin.
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Secretary General's December Digest and holiday greetings
A few final words about the SAA activities in December before wishing you all happy holidays and a great start to the New Year!
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Receiving royalties should be a given, not a question.
Authors’ unwaivable right to remuneration and collective management was first recognised in the early 1990s, with the directive on rental and lending rights and on cable and satellite (see our timeline of key EU directives). 30 years later, all European authors are fairly remunerated for when their works are shown on TV channels, copies are made for personal use on devices or media and films are watched on streaming platforms, right? No, unfortunately not.
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Meet our Member - FilmJUS in Hungary
After the SAA members’ meeting in November, I had the pleasure of talking to our member FilmJUS, who had come to Brussels from Budapest. I sat down with László Czető Bernát (Vice President and SAA Patron), Dr Béla Bánhegyesi (CEO) and Dr Katalin Petróczy (Legal adviser) to learn about their work for authors’ rights in Hungary.
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Secretary General's November Digest, 2024
November was an eventful month of meetings with the members, policymakers and partners. Some of the activities included a workshop to set our long-term direction, preparing our contribution to the AI Act Code of Practice, delivering a joint stakeholder address to EU's Culture Ministers, and getting involved in 'Big Tech' court cases against Belgium.
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Secretary General's October Digest, 2024
In October, I travelled to Budapest and Warsaw, organised two working group meetings with the SAA members, prepared for our all-member meeting in Brussels in November and started introducing Luisiana, our new Policy and Legal Officer, to the copyright experts in the Permanent Representations of the Member States.
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