Following the publication in July of the European Commission’s proposal for a directive on collective rights management, the SAA has now published its detailed comments on the proposal.

On 28th of November we launched a petition.  We were hoping to get 5,000 signatures within a week as the college of Commissioners was meeting on Wednesday 5th December to decide on their future approach on copyright.  The meeting was the culmination of months of evident discord within the college of Commissioners on the best approach for Europe to fully take advantage of one of its key assets – its creative industries – in the digital world.  President Barroso sought to set things straight and work out

The Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) welcomes the European Commission’s announcement today following its orientation debate on future copyright policy. Adopting a pragmatic approach and conducting a proper stakeholder dialogue is the best way of constructively resolving many of the issues. We are also reassured to hear that any future modifications of current copyright legislation will not be made until the necessary assessments and evaluations have been carried out.

The Socialist group of the European Parliament organised a conference last week entitled “Copyright: What is Broken and How to Mend it?”.  Such debates are necessary if we are to escape the confrontation we have seen over the last year.

Recently Digital Europe, representing some of the world’s largest technology and ICT companies, announced proposals to shift their private copying responsibilities and suggests that private copying compensation be moved to governments and other public funds.

13 organisations agree - An essential source of income for Europe’s creators

Groupings of screenwriters, directors, composers, songwriters and journalists welcome adopted European Parliament report that calls for “fair and proportional” remuneration.

The European Parliament's culture committee has adopted a positive-looking report by Jean-Marie Cavada (France, EPP) on the online distribution of audiovisual works – the European Parliament’s follow-up report to the European Commission Green Paper from last year.

Robert Alberdingk Thijm, Fred Breinersdorfer, Stijn Coninx, Jan Hrebejk, Agnès Jaoui, Radu Mihaileanu, Volker Schlöndorff, Hugh Stoddart, Bertrand Tavernier, Jaco Van Dormael, Susanna White - Patrons of the Society of Audiovisual Authors - respond to Finish and Spanish ministers' comments in the European Voice.

I traditionally spend a few days in Cannes for the International Film Festival in May to (of course) see films and discover the brilliant selection concocted by Thierry Fremaux, the most trusted cinema lover in the world, but above all to participate in events and meet people at this big international fair.

Part of the problem with Piracy is that many fans don’t feel that they are giving anything to the creator, just to a big faceless company.  While this is obviously a simplistic view (most European producers are not that big and I doubt such fans check the size of the company before deciding whether to download legally or not) the reality in the audiovisual sector is that it is doubtful much (if any) of the money handed over will reach the authors.

There is a “day” for almost everything it seems.  The reason why such “days” exist is generally to raise awareness of a particular issue.  Such days are a sort of celebration of a cause which is often defended all year round but needs a focal point for the media.So, intellectual property gets its day today as authors’ rights and copyright had there day on 23rd April.