The SAA addresses the Polish Prime Minister and Minister of Culture, calling for support to the Polish model of statutory remuneration for audiovisual authors to be extended to on-demand usages. Such a reform wiould establish a level playing field and safeguard authors’ rights.

On 1 January Sweden took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU. Despite being one of the largest countries with one of the lowest populations per square kilometer in all of Europe, it is the home to Greta Thunberg, Alfred Nobel, Ingmar Bergman, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, ABBA and many more. I talked to Mattias Åkerlind, CEO of Copyswede, from a cold Stockholm.

On 12 December 2022, Eleonora Rosati, Professor of IP law and Director of the Institute for Intellectual Property and Market Law, Stockholm University, moderated an informative seminar with experts from the Nordic countries and the European Commission about the use of Extended Collective Licensing mechanisms to license audiovisual works and deliver remuneration to their authors.

On 29 November 2022, the Council of the EU adopted its resolution on the EU Work Plan for Culture 2023-2026. We had a look at what is particularly interesting for the audiovisual sector and its authors.

Extended Collective Licensing: How can it help audiovisual authors?

The SAA welcomes the European Parliament’s report on the implementation of the AVMS Directive, and proposes 4 ways for the EU to ensure that the Directive is reaching its cultural policy objectives and better promote and support audiovisual creators in Europe.

The Slovenian implementation of the EU Copyright Directives* places the country among the most modern legislation ensuring film directors and screenwriters are remunerated for the use of their works on the most important modes of exploitation, such as broadcasting, retransmission, public performance, online uses and video-on-demand.

The Czech Republic, known for its top-ranking female tennis players, the world’s first robot, and it’s 2,000 castles, is since 1 July holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU. I had a talk with Jan Barták, working for our Czech member DILIA about their work and expectations about the Presidency.

It has been more than a year since the deadline for the implementation of the Copyright Directive (2019/790/EU) and only 15 of the 27 Member States have finalised the transposition. Many Member States have disregarded the reasoning behind Article 18 on appropriate and proportionate remuneration for the license or transfer of exclusive rights, but Belgium, when implementing the Directive, seized the opportunity to reflect on the real needs of authors and performers.

An international brochure presenting the concept of authorship, royalties, collective management and European legislation.  

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.

"At a time when France has just begun its six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union, we, European screenwriters and directors, wish to share with you our expectations and hopes for the advancement of authors' rights, the promotion of the right to proportional remuneration for creators and its contribution to the dynamism of creation."