News - GESAC - The European Authors' Societies

25 September 2015

SGAE hosts debates on the European Commission’s strategy on copyright

On 18 September, SGAE held a day of debates in Madrid to discuss the many questions that arise from the European Commission’s strategy on copyright.

Participating in this event were artists like the Spanish film director Inés París and British composer Crispin Hunt. Also present was GESAC’s General Manager Véronique Desbrosses, who emphasized the weight and importance of the creative and cultural industries in Europe. She insisted on the need to urgently address the transfer of value taking place online with intermediaries refusing to fairly remunerate the creators of the content they make available to the public. Echoing the growing concern among authors in Europe, SGAE’s president, José Luis Acosta deplored that “never in history has so much cultural content been consumed and have authors received so little for their work”.

DG Connect’s Director General Gerard de Graaf said it was “essential for the law to be balanced in order for everyone to benefit from the digital market” and that creators would know more about the coming legislation by the end of this year.

The event was attended by over 100 people, including MEPs Paloma López and José Blanco.

More about the event here (in Spanish).

21 September 2015

Chinese delegation meets GESAC for European CMO best practices

On Friday 18 September, GESAC hosted the collective management part of the Chinese Legal Affairs Commission’s (LAC) European study visit. Also attending this meeting, which was held at the Sabam offices in Brussels, were representatives of CISAC and CEIPI. The meeting was organised following a request from IPKey, a Commission initiative to facilitate the development of an IPR framework in China that embraces the principles of effectiveness, fairness and transparency.

The Chinese government is currently working on a reform of its copyright legislation, which sparked this visit to Europe. The new CRM Directive and the impact of its provisions on CMOs across Europe were some of the topics of interest. As an important trade partner of the European Union, cross border licensing of music in particular was addressed during this meeting. Also on the radar for Chinese authorities were European best practices regarding the recognition of directors and screenwriters as the authors of audiovisual works and the collective management of their rights.

LAC indicated that the Chinese government was considering the integration of resale right in its new copyright legislation. GESAC warmly welcomed this move and together with the other attendees of the meeting, provided more information on the implementation of this right in Europe. The administrative aspects of the management of visual rights in general were also discussed: an important subject for Europe which sees some of its comics’ characters like Hergé’s Tintin and other visual works widely exported to China and the rest of the world.

7 September 2015

SGAE organises debate on digital market, cultural industries and IP

GESAC’s Spanish member SGAE will soon be holding an international day of debate on the digital market, cultural industries and intellectual property. The event will gather political figures, representatives of rightholders and of cultural industries. It will address the economic value of the Cultural and Creative Industries in the EU and the necessity for Europe to safeguard and further grow the vibrant ecosystem of a sector that is currently thriving with its 7 million jobs and 4,2 % of EU GDP. The conference will be held in Madrid on 18 September.

Please find the full programme of the conference here.

26 August 2015

Online rights management keeps getting easier

Management of rights online and on-the-go is one of the key elements to providing the best possible service to rights holders and the users of creative works. GESAC members have steadily been expanding their existing services with easier and faster online options.

Here’s two of the latest new services recently announced by members:

Suisa (Switzerland) developed a new portal for its 34.000 members that allows creators and publishers to check their statements and information on the internet and on any device at any time.
Sabam’s (Belgium) latest service provides the users of creative works with easier and more accessible online licensing (check out the brand new video: FR/NL).