Blog
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2018 in three words: The Copyright Directive
For the SAA’s small team, working in the European House of Authors in Brussels, 2018 can be summed up in three words: the Copyright Directive.
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When will the film industry pass the gender equality test?
Half of all Hollywood blockbusters fail to pass the Bechdel test, including the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, all Star Wars and all but one of the Harry Potter movies. One may think it is a simple test, but many films lack the requirements: two female characters who both have a name and talk to each other about something other than a man.
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Broadcasting and retransmissions – from a bad proposal to a hopeful directive
On 13 December 2018, the Council and the European Parliament reached a political agreement on the Broadcasting and Retransmissions Directive. This is a milestone for audiovisual authors to continue receiving royalties for the exploitation of their works included in TV programmes’ packages distributed all around Europe, whatever the technology used.
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‘This time I’m voting’ - for cultural diversity
Brussels’ European quarter is getting ready for the elections on 23-26 May. Political parties are finalising their lists of candidates for the European Parliament and organisations and interest groups are designing campaigns to engage citizens to vote.
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Op-ed: An EU Copyright law for the 21st century film and TV industry
The EU Copyright Directive, which is currently being finalised by the Council and the European Parliament, must include a principle of fair and proportionate remuneration to be fit for the 21st century film and TV industry, writes Cécile Despringre.
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How to exploit authors’ work without exploiting the author
How can screenwriters and directors ensure their films have the chance to be viewed by as many as possible and at the same time get fairly and proportionately paid for the success? This was one out of many interesting discussions at the dinner during SAA's event in the European Parliament, called ‘One Day in Strasbourg’.
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Royalties for audiovisual authors – a drop in the ocean
Last week, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) presented its annual Global Collections Report. Out of royalties collected for audiovisual, dramatic, literature, music and visual authors, audiovisual authors get a mere 6,4%, compared to music that represent 87% of global collections.
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How to make European films visible and accessible online?
At this week’s Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, Commissioner Gabriel will present the prototype of the Directory of European Films developed by the European Audiovisual Observatory to increase the visibility of European films on the video-on-demand (VOD) market.
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Transparency: in EU institutions and copyright
The proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market has now moved on to ‘trilogue’ negotiations between the Parliament, the Council (Member States) and the European Commission. This last stage of the negotiation process leading to its final adoption resonates particularly with an issue being dealt with in the Directive: transparency.
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The new Copyright Directive: a thriller with a happy ending - 1st season
On 12 September, in the corridors of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, uncertainty about the outcome of the vote on the new Copyright Directive was palpable, as the media were echoing a possible rejection of the Directive.
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Copyright 0-1: defending rights versus opposing obligations
“Tech Giants Win a Battle Over Copyright Rules in Europe” was the headline of the New York Times following the vote in the European Parliament on 5 July which delays the adoption of the Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market.
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Flourishing industries profit from struggling authors?
“Creative industries have never been as prosperous in terms of turnover as they are now. The content creators though have never received so little”
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