Canal+, one of the most prominent investors in French cinema, has stopped paying the authors’ Collective Management Organisations the royalties due for films and TV series it broadcasts.

Freedom of contract is seen as a corner stone of much of modern business and is often a key argument against regulation. But sometimes contractual freedom is a fiction and to defend it is to perpetuate injustice.

Double payment is the most consistent fear presented in opposition to the unwaivable remuneration right that would ensure screenwriters and directors are paid when their works are watched online.

One of the overriding themes of the Copyright Directive proposal was to re-balance negotiations. The key word was “fair”. The Commission used this justification for its press publishers’ right, the value gap proposal and the transparency triangle.

There is an interesting court case underway concerning the remuneration of an author that is attracting interest on both sides of the Atlantic.

Here you can find our video and infographic about authors' remuneration (in English, Croatian, French, German and Spanish). 

What are the professional lives of screenwriters and directors like? How do they make a living and what are the challenges they face?

On 23rd March 2015 SAA launched its White Paper on audiovisual authors’ rights and remuneration.  You can see a summary video of the whole event and hear Roger Michel, Bertrand Tavernier and Jochen Greve share their thoughts in the videos below.

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.

“The existing contractual protection of authors, as included in copyright law and, indirectly, in general contract law, appears not to be sufficient or effective to secure a fair remuneration to authors or address some unfair contractual provisions.  

SAA has been promoting the idea of an unwaivable remuneration right for the last two years.  Performers organisations have also called for a similar right.  Our analysis, put simply, is that while it would obviously be better to strengthen the negotiating position of screenwriters and directors by introducing standard contracts or changing contract law, the reality is that this is unlikely to happen at EU level.  Antonio Vitorino recognised this issue in his recommendations on private copying levies:

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