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Anton REIXA is, since the May 8, the new President of the Spanish Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers (SGAE). He has also taken on the functions of President of the Board of Directors and of the Administration Board, by majority decision of the new Board of Directors.

Born in Vigo in 1957,  he holds a degree in philology and is a poet, composer, scriptwriter, film and television director and producer. He has been the president of the audiovisual production company Filmanova since 1999 and was the president of Cluster Audiovisual of Galicia.  He currently collaborates on the programme of Onda Cero Julia en la Onda. As a multimedia artist, Anton REIXA started his career writing poetry within the Grupo de Communicación Rompente (1975).  He was a lyricist and singer of the group Os Resentidos (1982-94).  He has been also prolific in the area of video creation, producing numerous video clips; his last work in this area, Leccions de Cousas, was shown at the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea (CGAC, Galician Centre for Contemporary Arts) of Santiago de Compostela until October 2011.  His last published poetry book is Látego de Algas (August 2008).  As an executive movie and television producer, he has been director, scriptwriter and producer of the movies El Lápiz del Carpintero and Hotel Tívoli.

Wherever they are based, authors’ societies are at the heart of the action – and the cultural life of their community.

Here are just a couple of examples of the cultural activities that authors’ societies are engaging with now.

In the UK, the long-awaited Jubilee weekend has finally arrived. To help celebrations go off with a bang PRS for Music, the London-based organisation that licenses the public use of music, has just announced that it will cut music license charges for street parties and other non-profit community events taking place over the long weekend.

Similarly, Sacem – a French authors’ society representing some 137 000 creators – is taking part in the prestigious Cannes festival. They’ll be there in force with their partners to back a campaign promoting composers and film music – “Talents Cannes”. If you’re at the festival, make sure you pass by the Pavillon Cannes Soundtrack – a space dedicated to film music – to meet the composers bringing the films you love to life.

In the online world, compelling and high-quality visuals are essential for standing out and getting noticed. Featuring a dazzling Kandinsky or a chilling Munch portrait can make all the difference to a website, for example, ensuring a memorable and high-quality project that captures peoples’ imagination time and time again.

Increasingly, commercial enterprises like advertising agencies are catching on to the value of using fine art in their online projects and campaigns – taking a leaf out of the books of museums, libraries and schools that have been using masterpieces in their web projects to great success for some time.

As varied as the users of online art may be, they have one important need: peace of mind that they’re using works of art legally and in an equitable way – they don’t want to see the creators of the works they enjoy short-changed by their actions.

A year ago this month the Finnish Composers Copyright Society, Teosto, brought their ambitious Cultural Ambassadors Project to Brussels.

The Cultural Ambassadors Project began life in 2009 as a hugely successful Finland-based scheme …and its national activities continue to this day.  A marriage of simple methods and grand aspirations, the Project is essentially a buddy scheme that matches MPs with creators active in their constituencies, bridging the gap between the worlds of politicians and authors and increasing awareness of the economic and cultural input creators contribute every day.

Teosto nurtures these ongoing relationships by setting up meetings and providing updates on current issues important to the Finnish authors, like tax legislation, social security and internet piracy.