Brussels, 21 May 2025 – A high-level delegation of creators led by ABBA co-founder and CISAC President Björn Ulvaeus has visited Brussels to call for action by the EU to safeguard creators’ rights in the AI era.
Today, a joint statement was issued by a coalition of authors, performers and other rightsholders active across the EU’s cultural and creative sectors regarding the third draft of the EU AI Act’s GPAI Code of Practice. This third draft of the GPAI Code of Practice undermines the objectives of the AI Act, contravenes EU law and ignores the intention of the EU legislator – and the coalition cannot support it.
The text of the letter is copied below and available in this PDF.
Press Release / Brussels, 30/01/2025 – Executive Vice-President Virkkunen joined MEPs and over 30 renowned creators—such as DJ Reinier Zonneveld and singer-songwriters Marika, Yael Naim and Pernille Rosendahl—at the European Parliament yesterday evening to discuss issues severely impacting the creative sector.
GESAC, alongside with a broad coalition of organisations in Europe’s creative and cultural sectors welcomes today's approval of the EU AI Act by the European Parliament, and thanks Members of the European Parliament for the essential role they have played in supporting creators and rightsholders throughout the legislative process.
The EU AI Act is world-first legislation that regulates the development and use of AI and sets an example for responsible AI governance.
Read the full statement here
The GESAC community is deeply saddened by the passing away of Prof. Dr. Reinhold Kreile, who dedicated his life to the protection and improvement of authors’ rights.
We are pleased to announce the launch of the 7th edition of the ALAI European Authors’ Right Award, supported by GESAC. This year, once again, the award will be handed out to a student/researcher for submitting the best essay related to authors’ rights/copyright with a European dimension.
Are you a law student currently studying or researching authors’ right/copyright? If so, we encourage you to apply for this year Authors’ Right Award!
More information about the prize, eligibility criteria and how to register here.
Brussels, 23 May 2024 – GESAC, the European Grouping of Authors Societies (CMOs) representing more than one million authors and rightholders from all artistic fields, today announced the appointment of Adriana Moscoso Del Prado Hernández as the new General Manager, replacing Véronique Desbrosses, who is retiring on 30 June next.
GESAC General Assembly also elects its new Board for 2024-2026 mandate
Brussels, 23 May 2024 – GESAC, the European Grouping of Authors’ Societies (CMOs) gathering 32 authors’ societies from the European Union, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, and representing as such more than one million authors and rightholders from all artistic fields, including music, audiovisual, visual arts, literacy, held the elections for its Board and the President for the 2024-2026 mandate, at its statutory General Meeting.
To mark the Europe Day on May 9, GESAC issued a statement expressing its gratitude to outgoing MEPs for their unwavering support for authors and their commitment to addressing the important concerns and challenges of our sector during this legislation.
Read the full statement here.
GESAC, alongside over 200 organisations in Europe’s cultural and creative sectors, calls on the Member States to show global leadership and approve the AI Act at the COREPER meeting scheduled on 2 February.
Read the statement here.
GESAC applauds the strong commitment of the EP to address creators’ concerns and welcomes the call for an EU legislation to ensure the transparency of and cultural diversity on all music streaming platforms.
Strasbourg, 17 January 2024 – Today, the European Parliament plenary adopted the initiative report of MEP Ibán García del Blanco on “Cultural diversity and the conditions for authors in the European music streaming market” with an overwhelming majority. The report acknowledges the significant problems faced by creators and suggests Union-level initiatives to set the ground for a fairer and more sustainable ecosystem in this ever-growing market.
GESAC welcomes the recognition of the need for transparency and compliance with EU rules by providers of general-purpose AI models
Brussels, 11 December 2023 – Following the EU decisionmakers’ announcement of having reached a political agreement on the EU AI Act at the end of a three-day trialogue meeting, GESAC welcomes the recognition on the need for providers of general-purpose AI models operating in the EU market to comply with EU copyright laws and minimum transparency obligations, which are indispensable for rightholders to exercise and enforce their rights.
Brussels, 28 November 2023 – GESAC welcomes the CULT Committee’s adoption of the initiative report on “cultural diversity and the conditions for authors in the European music streaming market” prepared by MEP Ibán García del Blanco, which rightly highlights the significant problems faced by authors and composers in the music streaming market and calls for EU policy actions to correct the existing imbalances and ensure the market’s sustainability.
Strasbourg, 21 November 2023 – Today the European Parliament adopted in plenary the report on the working conditions of artists, with a clear call to the Commission to address the growing phenomenon of coercive buyout practices from global platforms, that severely undermine the livelihood of authors and composers.
Brussels, 6 November – GESAC welcomes the outcome of a new study on buyout in the creative sector, which confirms the need for legislation to tackle unfair and coercive buyout practices at EU level. The study that will be presented at the European Parliament tomorrow was commissioned by its JURI Committee and prepared by the CEIPI Research department of the University of Strasbourg.
GESAC has issued a press release on today's vote by the Culture and Employment Committees of the European Parliament regarding the working conditions of artists.
Read our full reaction below.
In view of the upcoming Trilogue meeting on October 24, GESAC has issued a statement, urging European legislators to prioritize the inclusion of record-keeping and transparency obligations regarding the use of copyright-protected content by generative AI models. These obligations are necessary to ensure responsible and trustworthy AI systems, level the playing field, and enable European innovation and artistic creation.
Read on to find out more.
GESAC has co-signed the following open letter calling for meaningful obligations on AI systems to ensure the lawful use of copyright-protected content.
Are you a law student currently studying or researching authors’ right/copyright? If so, we encourage you to apply for the 6th edition of the ALAI European Authors' Right Award – supported by GESAC!
GESAC organised the 'Meet the Authors' event in the European Parliament on Tuesday, May 23rd, where European authors and composers from all over the EU met with their MEPs and shared their views, experiences, and expectations regarding their situation in the music and VOD streaming markets.
Learn more about the event below.
Following the recent study commissioned by GESAC and prepared by Emmanuel Legrand, GESAC is pleased to present the way forward through the objectives that must be met in order to create a fairer and more sustainable music streaming market for authors and composers.
These are namely:
Increased value from the streaming market (Growing the size of the revenue pie)
More fairness in the value chain (Better sharing of the revenue pie)
Ensuring cultural diversity & transparency on music streaming platforms
GESAC believes each of these objectives requires a combination of industry and policy initiatives, which are outlined in the following document.
Download the GESAC’s 10 Points infographic.
Read more about the Music Streaming market and how to make it sustainable and creator friendly.
AI is transforming the cultural and creative industries, offering both new possibilities and challenges.
Watch the video below to find out how generative AI works, how creators are using it, and what the risk factors are for European culture and creativity.
Reflecting on the concerns raised by authors and composers from across Europe, the European Parliament prepared a report on “Cultural diversity and conditions of authors in the European music streaming market”, which was adopted in Plenary on 17 January 2024.
Following the adoption in plenary with an overwhelming majority, GESAC General Manager Véronique Desbrosses had an exchange with the rapporteur MEP Garcia del Blanco.
Following the recent study commissioned by GESAC and prepared by Emmanuel Legrand, GESAC is pleased to present the way forward through the objectives that must be met in order to create a fairer and more sustainable music streaming market for authors and composers.
September 28, 2022, marks the launch of the new Study on the place and role of authors and composers in the European music streaming market, commissioned by GESAC and written by Emmanuel Legrand.
Artificial intelligence brings about many new opportunities for our lives, including in the field of culture and creativity, but its applications also raise a number of ethical and legal questions due to their wide-spread uncontrolled and unchecked usage.
Read more about the necessity for AI to develop in a way that is responsible and sustainable for European creators
We represent 32 members from 27 different countries.
Our members distributed €5.5 billion royalties in 2022 and invested €228 million in European culture
Representing creators from all over Europe
GESAC brings together organisations from a range of sectors to protect authors’ rights and promote their best interests. Our members manage the rights of their authors’ works and represent them in negotiations to secure things like fair remuneration. They are run by their members, are non-profit, and provide a crucial service in the creative sector that enables authors to create.
Are you a law student currently studying or researching authors’ right/copyright? If so, we encourage you to apply for this year Authors’ Right Award!
More information about the prize, eligibility criteria and how to register here.
