Blog
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‘Little streams make big rivers’ – royalties for public performance and educational uses matters
Have you thought about all the times you watch films and TV when you are not at home nor at the cinema? Indeed, you are watching from the waiting room at the doctors, the airplane seat or in the classroom. These are all occasions when screenwriters and directors should be - but rarely are - receiving fair and proportionate remuneration for the use of their works.
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US companies dominating the EU market - less rights for authors?
During the pandemic lockdowns and quarantines, many of us expressed gratefulness for the 21st century technology that allowed us to watch films and series on our screens, escaping the worrying health crisis around us. However, few paid attention to the consequences of the domination of the streaming and on-demand services by US interests: while the audience gets more content, European authors are being stripped of their right to royalties.
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2 years after Brexit: A talk with SAA’s members in the UK
The 31 January 2020 marks the day when the UK left the EU. I called up our UK members Barbara Hayes, Deputy Chief Executive of Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) and Andy Harrower, CEO of Directors UK to hear from them how Brexit impacted their work and authors’ rights in the UK.
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Meet our member: SACD in France
On 1 January, the French Presidency of the Council of the EU began. Put aside the pandemic and the upcoming French elections, the expectation on the Presidency from creators and their representative organisations is still high as France was the very first country - decades before the rest of the world - to recognize authors’ sovereignty over their creative works.
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Representation behind the numbers
The film and television landscape play an influential role when it comes to depicting, shaping, and framing reality. Since topics like inclusion and diversity have gained more public attention, the representation of marginalized groups in the global film and television industry[i] has increased[ii]. At first glance, this gives hope.
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We bring authors’ stories closer to policymakers
“Nothing about us, without us” is a slogan used by marginalised groups to say that no policies should be decided without the representation of the groups affected by them. The idea that people should be at the centre of policymaking may seem obvious for some but in the audiovisual sector, the interest of large streaming platforms often comes before - and at the expenses of - individual authors’ rights to their works.
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Meet our member: AIPA in Slovenia
You may know that on 1 July, Slovenia took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU. However, did you know that Slovenia is the home of 90,000 beekeepers, the oldest known musical instrument (a 60,000 years old ‘Neanderthal Flute’) and AIPA, the collective management organisation of authors, performers, and producers of audiovisual works of Slovenia.
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Equality and diversity in the spotlight
CharactHer, a new campaign by the European Commission, features inspiring women professionals and puts a spotlight on gender equality in the male dominated film and media sectors. A recent report by the European Audiovisual Observatory identifies 3 challenges: difficulties in measuring progress on on-screen representation, the complexity of collecting data on diversity, and the need for intersectional approaches.
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Voices of Culture message to EU countries: fair practices for cultural and creative professionals
Voices of Culture call on the EU to adopt a holistic approach to determining the social and economic status of artists and cultural workers. The SAA has been part of developing its recommendations addressing fair pay, flattening income variations, collective bargaining, intellectual property rights and grants.
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Turning words into actions for European culture and authors
The pandemic crisis is best described as unpredictable. Its waves of COVID-19 infections left us insecure about the future. However, following the roll-out of vaccination, we can finally start to plan ahead. On the EU level, institutions are working on initiatives that could contribute to a more hopeful future for the cultural and creative sectors.
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The opportunity with a delayed copyright transposition
7 June 2021 is the last day to implement the directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market into national law, but few EU Member States will meet the deadline. EU countries have the opportunity to carefully, while still urgently, implement the directive and present a recovery plan to actively support the creative and cultural sector. In return, the sector will be able to nurture European’s wellbeing and recovery.
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2020 brought the cultural and creative sectors closer together
Little did we know that 2020 would turn out the way it did, although the road is still long to recovery, I am hopeful that we will turn a corner by the end of 2021. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the SAA swiftly shifted its priorities. The health crisis led to more cooperation and coordinated action within the cultural and creative sectors than before.
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