21 June 2023

PRESS RELEASE: The fifth edition of the ALAI European Author’s Right Award, supported by GESAC, rewarded it’s new laureate

GESAC has issued a press release on today’s ALAI European Authors’ Right Award Ceremony.

Learn more about the event below.

Paris, France, 21 June 2023 – And the winner is.. Javier Fernández-Lasquetty Martín, from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, who received his prize at an outstanding ceremony held as part of the ALAI Congress in Paris, France.

The ALAI European Author’s Right Award, supported by GESAC, is granted annually to the most eminent essay on authors’ right with a European dimension, in a competition participated by young academics from around the world. The winner of the fifth edition was honoured during a remarkable evening at the opening cocktail reception of the ALAI Congress on June 21.

The ALAI European Authors’ Right Award supported by GESAC has been launched to inspire the next generation of intellectual property experts and has attracted wide interest of young researchers from across the world over its five editions.

GESAC has been a proud supporter and co-initiator of this prestigious award alongside ALAI, the organisation founded by Victor Hugo and gathering world’s most respected academics and lawyers with the aim of endavouring the protection of creators’ rights.

Young researchers and law students interested in the field are invited to apply for the sixth edition, which will be announced soon!

The laureate, Javier Fernández-Lasquetty Martín said: “I am truly honoured to receive this esteemed distinction from ALAI and GESAC, two renowned institutions that serve as beacons in the protection of authors’ rights. Being acknowledged by ALAI and GESAC is both a great support and encouragement to advance my legal and academic career in the field of authors’ rights.”

GESAC’s General Manager Véronique Desbrosses said: “This prestigious award seeks to make authors’ rights an enticing and invigorating discipline for aspiring young professionals in the field. By harnessing the authoritative academic knowledge within the GESAC and the ALAI community, we are confident in the continued dedication of future copyright/authors’ right experts to contribute passionately towards fostering a positive legal environment for artistic creation and cultural diversity.”

For more information on the upcoming edition of the award as well as details about past editions, please see here.

Policies

Artificial intelligence

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.

Policies

Music Streaming

Music streaming has unquestionably become the predominant means of enjoying music, replacing traditional physical media and expanded far beyond the live sector by providing user-friendly, high quality, and affordable access to the largest possible repertoire anytime, anywhere, online, or offline.

Songs and compositions are at the heart of this thriving market, which counts 524 million users on subscription-based music services globally, reaches more than 2 billion users including the streaming on UGC platforms, and offers more than 70 million tracks from approximately 8 million artists.

Yet, the authors and composers cannot benefit adequately from this success, and the debate over unfairness of this market is gaining traction across Europe and around the world.

There is a need to look more closely at how songwriters and composers are connected to this thriving economy and what can be done to improve their currently neglected situation.

Read below to find out more about the Music Streaming market.

Policies

Buy-out contracts: a dangerous threat to European creators

European music creators (composers, lyricists etc.) are being forced to forsake thousands of euros in future earnings by draconian ‘work made for hire’ (WMH) and buy-out contracts.

Online audiovisual services and broadcasters that are mainly US-based are forcing music creators to accept such contracts, which enforce a one-time payment in exchange for their rights.

Given the worldwide popularity of shows and series on platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Disney etc., and their replay value, the audiovisual market represents an important revenue stream for creators. Soundtracks alone are part and parcel of series and often attract a similar amount of popularity, massively boosting sales, streams and the worldwide fanbase of their authors.

Read below to find out how video on demand (VOD) platforms and broadcasters are circumventing EU law and what can be done about it.

Policies

Authors’ societies & the collective management model

Authors’ societies are hugely beneficial to both authors (creators), users (platforms and services), and the broader public.

Beyond benefiting these different groups, authors’ societies also support the broader cultural ecosystem by funding and promoting cultural and creative initiatives.

Below are five key benefits to authors’ societies and the collective management model.

Policies

The Copyright Directive

In April 2019, the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market was formally adopted, a change that will positively transform authors’ rights throughout the EU. Each member state now has until 7 June 2021 to transpose the Directive into their respective national law.

This reform is an opportunity to address pressing issues for authors in the Digital Single Market and will promote the growth of Europe’s creative and cultural industries (CCIs) – a major driver of Europe’s economy.

One of the biggest achievements of this new piece of legislation was to address the
‘Transfer of Value’ problem, a priority issue for all European creators.

Below are some of the Directive’s key areas that will affect creators and those who profit from their work.