Copyright protection in the AI era is in jeopardy. As the AI Act entered into force on 2 August, the challenges of copyright and AI remain not only unsolved but are becoming urgent. While the EU institutions tackle the problem from different fronts, a survey of European collective management organisations (CMOs) disclose the harsh reality: rightsholders are losing control of their works, AI companies are systematically avoiding licensing obligations, and the current legal framework is proving "unimpleme

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.

5-years after the transposition deadline, the European Commission has concluded that the application of the Collective Rights Management Directive has had a positive effect on rightsholders and the licensing market. Therefore, there is no need for a review, said the Commission.

"Collective management – A safety net for authors and performers" is the title of the SAA and AEPO-ARTIS upcoming event on 17 March. It also well describes the results of the surveys the SAA conducted among its members, demonstrating the collective management organisations’ continued efforts and mobilisation of resources to support audiovisual authors through the pandemic.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, European collective management organisations (CMOs) were quick to mobilise speedy distribution of royalties and financial support to screenwriters and directors suffering due to the crisis. A much-needed help for many authors who do not fit the categories to benefit from governments’ emergency support.

I am back from Vilnius again where the Mykolas Romeris University, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania organized a conference on the collective management of authors’ and neighbouring rights in Europe, focusing on the implementation of the 2014/26/EU Directive on Collective Rights Management.

SAA's 2nd edition of its White Paper on Audiovisual Authors Rights and Remuneration in Europe underlines the explosion of different forms of exploitation of audiovisual works.

As the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs committee validated the Parliament-Commission-Council trilogue’s compromise text reached on 4 November, European audiovisual authors’ societies welcome the finalisation of the text of the Directive and call on the Commission to build on it now to improve authors’ remuneration in the digital era.

Here you find SAA short booklet looking at how collective rights management organisations work and the rules that apply in different European countries for royalty distributions.

Janine Lorente, the chair of the SAA board of directors presented SAA’s position on the collective rights management directive proposal on 18 March.

Janine Lorente, the chair of SAA’s board of directors, spoke at the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee hearing on collective rights management on Monday.  She was one of 13 stakeholders in a detailed programme which showed just how many different stakeholders will be affected by the directive when it comes into force.  Out of the 13 presentations, only Janine looked at the issue from a non-music point of view.