News

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.

‘A visionary artist or a composer or a writer is able to show us a different way of looking at the world.’These are the words of Francis Gerry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, speaking on World Intellectual Property (IP) Day that took place last week.

World Intellectual Property Day launched in 2000. Its aim is to heighten understanding about the value of intellectual property rights – not just for those who enjoy them, but for society at large. Legal safeguards for the intangible assets of creators ensure their interests continue to be served in today’s consumer-focused and innovation-rich environment.  They ensure the moral and legal integrity of creators, and their right to be remunerated fairly for their efforts.