AVACI and FESAAL Congress: the world's most important meeting of Audiovisual Authors was successfully held in Zagreb, Croatia

With the presence of multiple directors, screenwriters, author’s rights lawyers, and invited authorities, the annual meetings of the Latin American Audiovisual Authors Societies Federation (FESAAL) and the Audiovisual Authors Internacional Confederation (AVACI) were held in the city of Zagreb, Croatia, during the first week of November. The collective management society DHFA – Croatian Film Authors' and Producers' Association was the host society. “It is an honor to welcome you, recognizing all the legal representatives and authors. It is a pleasure to receive you here. I am proud and happy to have this congress here in Croatia, in my city,” greeted Danilo Šerbedžija, film director and president of DHFA, at the opening of the assembly.

With record attendance, both assemblies took place in a context in which artificial intelligence has firmly established itself in audiovisual production around the world, making it one of the central topics of a debate that addressed both strategies to guarantee fair remuneration for works used in AI training and mechanisms to leverage this technology in favor of collective management of author’s rights.

FESAAL: a region thinking about itself

The meeting of audiovisual authors from Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, and Bolivia included a detailed report on the current author’s rights situation in each of the countries, as well as a report from the federation’s legal team regarding the status of the formal registration of its statutes.

Marcelo Piñeyro, Argentine director and screenwriter, Honorary President of AVACI and Vice President of DAC, sent a welcome message via video. “It seems incredible that we must continue explaining the need to exercise the rights we have as audiovisual creators. AVACI and FESAAL are working to create global regulations with laws that ensure remuneration for the public exhibition of our works. My best wishes for these days of intense work and debate in this space created and led by audiovisual creators,” he said.

Another main aim of the meeting was to emphasize the continuity of the philosophy that has characterized FESAAL since its founding, based on solidarity and mutual support among societies of audiovisual creators. In that sense, the participating audiovisual authors reaffirmed their commitment to member societies that have not yet achieved a remuneration right law in their own countries.

Audiovisual authors from across the region, authorities, and guests

The FESAAL Assembly on November 4 included the participation of representatives from their respective entities:

ADG – Asociación de Directores y Guionistas del Ecuador – Ecuador: Manolo Sarmiento – Promoter / Yanara Luciana Guayasamín Deperon – Promoter

AGADU – Asociación General de Autores del Uruguay – Uruguay: Marcela Matta – Representative

ARGENTORES – Sociedad General de Autores de la Argentina – Argentina: Miguel Ángel Diani – President / Germán Gutiérrez – Legal Advisor

ATN – Sociedad de Directores Audiovisuales, Guionistas y Dramaturgos – Chile: Daniella Castagno – President / César Cuadra – General Director

CREADORES PY – Entidad de Gestión de Autores Audiovisuales del Paraguay – Paraguay: Armando Aquino – President / Vanella Barbieri – Legal Advisor

DAC – Directores Argentinos Cinematográficos – Argentina: Horacio Maldonado – Secretary General / Carmen Guarini – President / Víctor Dínenzon – Treasurer / Inés de Oliveira Cézar – Deputy Secretary General / Luis Mangiavillano – Executive Director / Daniel Di Napoli – Systems Director / Marcelo Piñeyro – Vice President

DACAP – Directores Audiovisuales y Cinematográficos Asociados del Perú – Peru: Franco García Becerra – President / Rodrigo Moreno Del Valle – Vice President

DASC – Directores Audiovisuales Sociedad Colombiana – Colombia: Teresa Saldarriaga – President / Adriana Saldarriaga – Legal Advisor

DBCA – Diretores Brasileiros de Cinema e do Audiovisual – Brazil: Henrique de Freitas Lima – President / Hamsa Wood – Social Action Director

DGU – Directoras, Directores y Guionistas del Uruguay – Uruguay: Marcela Matta – Representative

EDAP – Asociación de Escritores, Guionistas, Dramaturgos y Directores Audiovisuales de Panamá – Panama: Ricardo Aguilar – President / Luis Romero – Secretary General

FILMAR Bolivia – Bolivia: Viviana Saavedra – Head of Communications

GEDAR – Gestão de Direitos de Autores Roteiristas – Brazil: Sylvia Palma / Thiago Dottori – Vice President

REDES – Red Colombiana de Escritores Audiovisuales – Colombia: Alexandra Cardona Restrepo – President / Ricardo Coral – Secretary

SOGEM – Sociedad General de Escritores de México – Mexico: Manuel Rodríguez Ajenjo – President / Gloria López – General Director / Ángel Javier Cruz Casaos / Pedro Trejo González

SOMEDIRE – Sociedad Mexicana de Directores de Obras Audiovisuales – Mexico: Gilberto de Anda – President

Guests

Saula Benavente, Argentine director and screenwriter

Ricardo Castillo Guerra, representative of the Legal Department of the Film Directorate of the Ministry of Culture of Panama

André Machado de Morais, representative of the Secretariat of Auhor’s Rights and Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Culture of Brazil

Arianne Benedetti, Vice Minister of Culture of Panama

Angie Katherin Torres Cubillos, from the National Author’s Rights Directorate of Colombia.

AVACI: the world in dialogue for its authors' rights

The meeting continued on November 5 with the AVACI Annual Assembly, in its fifth edition since its creation in 2021. In recent years, the confederation has achieved significant legislative changes in different countries around the world and continues supporting and promoting the creation of new audiovisual author’s rights management societies worldwide. “You are a powerful example of what solidarity among creators means and what it can achieve,” stated Danilo Šerbedžija, President of the host society DHFA, in his welcome remarks. “Thank you for sharing your energy, experience, and passion with us,” he added. Next, Ljiljana Kuterovac, representing the Croatian State Intellectual Property Office, highlighted that “as a confederation of audiovisual authors, AVACI has very ambitious goals to promote rights through global cooperation.” “I hope this congress brings you valuable exchanges to foster the best protection of your rights,” she concluded.

As with the FESAAL assembly, the international meeting placed artificial intelligence at the center of the debate and also featured a detailed report on the current landscape of audiovisual author’s rights in each region. The panel "Visibility and Inequality: analyzing the situation of women and gender diversity in today’s audiovisual production" was presented, moderated by Daniella Castagno and Carmen Guarini, with speakers Dina Pokrajac of HDFK - Hrvatsko Društvo Filmskih Kritičara, (Croatian Society of Film Critics), Dana Budisavljević, Croatian director, Inés de Oliveira Cézar, and Sylvia Palma.

Meanwhile, Daniel Di Napoli presented a technical talk on recent advancements in AVSYS AI, the open-source and free operating system for audiovisual author’s rights management societies affiliated with AVACI. Di Napoli explained how the system now incorporates artificial-intelligence components to automate processes, optimize work identification, and facilitate cross-checking with international databases. The day concluded with a moving tribute to Colombian director Camila Loboguerrero, who passed away on June 21, attended by her sons Matías Maldonado and Lucas Maldonado, who offered words honoring their mother: “She would be very proud; she always was of her work. She was very happy here.”

The session on November 6 continued with reports from member countries of the confederation, in addition to presentations by Antonio Onetti, Spanish screenwriter and President of SGAE – Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, and a report on collection and distribution in Italy presented by director and screenwriter Giacomo Arrigoni and Gianluigi Chiodaroli, President and CEO of M Rights – Italy. Also noteworthy was the participation of French director and screenwriter Gilles Cayatte, former member of LaSCAM. “How wonderful to be back,” Cayatte said. “It’s great to see how AVACI has grown. I want to thank Danilo and Horacio for having me here, even though I couldn’t convince LaSCAM that Horacio’s vision was the right path,” he added, clarifying that he was participating “independently.”

Next, a panel on the collection and distribution of rights through the private-copy system in Europe, moderated by Danko Stefanović, featured Ana-Marija Vrdoljak, President of AVIP, Croatian Audiovisual Performers’ Collecting Society; Nikola Sekulović - CEO of Kopriva Slovenia’s Private Copy Collective Management Organization y Stefan Gelineo, director general de UFUS AFA, Serbia’s Film Authors’ Organization.

As in the 2024 assembly held in Mexico, German-Argentine director and screenwriter Christoph Behl, an artificial-intelligence specialist, delivered a talk on new technologies, updated and focused this time on their current influence on the profession of audiovisual screenwriters and directors. This was followed by the roundtable “Where AI Meets Art: New Tools for the Audiovisual Creator in Times of Artificial Intelligence,” moderated by Finnish director Ada Johnsson, with participants Vinod Ranganath, screenwriter and CEO of SRAI – India; Nikica Zdunić, Croatian audiovisual director and screenwriter; and Kyu Dong Min, director, screenwriter, and President of DGK – Directors Guild of Korea. Later, the AVACI Legal and Technical Committee offered a session on the legal interpretation of digital-work declaration and moderated a panel on the development of the audiovisual creators’ profession in relation to YouTube and artificial intelligence.

During the assembly, recognitions were presented to Danilo Šerbedžija for his contribution to the audiovisual authors’ community, and to Sylvia Palma and Horacio Maldonado for the importance of their contributions to collective management societies of audiovisual author’s rights in Latin America and worldwide. “I am very moved by this tribute. I thank everyone who is here,” said Palma. “Seeing what we have all achieved together fills one with tremendous pride,” said Maldonado, moved by the recognition from his colleagues over so many years.

To conclude the day, the assembly approved the admission of the Serbian society UFUS AFA, the Ecuadorian society ADG, and the Bolivian society FILMAR into the confederation, expanding the horizons of cooperation and mutual work among filmmakers around the world for the recognition of their rights.

Autores audAudiovisual authors from around the world, authorities, and invited guests

From the AVACI Congress, held on November 5 and 6, the following representatives participated on behalf of their respective entities:

ADG - Asociación de Directores y Guionistas del Ecuador – Ecuador: Manolo Sarmiento – Promoter / Yanara Luciana Guayasamín Deperon – Promoter

AGADU – Asociación General de Autores del Uruguay – Uruguay: Marcela Matta – Representative

AIPA – Asociación de Autores de Eslovenia – Slovenia: Peter Kep – Head of Operations / Uroš Rožič – Head of Legal

ALCS – Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society – United Kingdom: Federica Fiorillo – Manager of Rights and International Policy

APASER – Alianza Panafricana de Guionistas y Directores: Laza Razanajatovo – President / Giuliana Fantoni – Coordinator

ARGENTORES – Sociedad General de Autores de la Argentina – Argentina: Miguel Ángel Diani – President / Germán Gutiérrez – Legal Advisor

ATN – Sociedad de Directores Audiovisuales, Guionistas y Dramaturgos de Chile – Chile: Daniella Castagno – President / César Cuadra – General Director

AVIP – Croatian Audiovisual Performers’ Collecting Society – Croatia: Ana-Marija Vrdoljak – President

AzDG – Gremio de Directores de Cine Profesionales de Azerbaiyán – Azerbaijan: Shahira Tajaddin – CEO

CREADORES PY – Paraguay: Armando Aquino – President / Vanella Barbieri – Legal Advisor

DAC – Directores Argentinos Cinematográficos – Argentina: Horacio Maldonado – Secretary General / Carmen Guarini – President / Víctor Dínenzon – Treasurer / Inés de Oliveira Cézar – Deputy Secretary General / Luis Mangiavillano – Executive Director / Daniel Di Napoli – Systems Director / Marcelo Piñeyro – Vice President

DACAP – Directores Audiovisuales y Cinematográficos Asociados del Perú – Peru: Franco García Becerra – President / Rodrigo Moreno Del Valle – Vice President

DASC – Directores Audiovisuales Sociedad Colombiana – Colombia: Teresa Saldarriaga – President / Adriana Saldarriaga – Legal Advisor

DBCA – Diretores Brasileiros de Cinema e do Audiovisual – Brazil: Henrique de Freitas Lima – President / Hamsa Wood – Social Action Director

DGK – Directors Guild of Korea – South Korea: Kyu Dong Min – President / Jaewon Song – Head of Author’s Rights and International Affairs

DGU – Directoras, Directores y Guionistas del Uruguay – Uruguay: Marcela Matta – Representative

Directors UK – United Kingdom: Andy Harrower – CEO

DHFA – Croatian Film Authors' and Producers' Association – Croatia: Danilo Šerbedžija – President / Nikica Zdunić – Executive Committee Member / Danko Stefanović – Advisor / Sandra Botica Brešan / Lado Skorin / Hrvoje Hribar – Executive Committee Member / Branko Linta / Marjan Alčevski – Executive Committee Member / Neven Vučković – Lawyer / Marija Ćaćić

EDAP – Asociación de Escritores, Guionistas, Dramaturgos y Directores Audiovisuales de Panamá – Panama: Ricardo Aguilar – President / Luis Romero – Secretary GeneralFILMAR – Bolivia: Viviana Saavedra – Head of Communications

GEDAR – Brazil: Sylvia Palma / Thiago Dottori – Vice President

KOPRIVA – Slovenia: Nikola Sekulović – CEO

KTRWA – Korea Television and Radio Writers Association – South Korea: Yoo Hyunmi – Vice-President / Jo Heejung – Executive Director

M Rights – Italy: Gianluigi Chiodaroli – President and CEO / Giovanna Burani – Head of International Affairs

REDES - Red Colombiana de Escritores Audiovisuales – Colombia: Alexandra Cardona Restrepo – President / Ricardo Coral – Secretary

SGAE – Sociedad General de Autores y Editores – Spain: Antonio Onetti – President

SOGEM – Sociedad General de Escritores de México – Mexico: Manuel Rodríguez Ajenjo – President / Gloria López – General Director / Ángel Javier Cruz Casaos / Pedro Trejo González

SRAI – Screenwriters Rights Association of India – India: Vinod Ranganath – CEO

UFUS AFA ZASTITA – Serbia: Stefan Gelineo – General Director / Darko Bajić / Ana Marija Rosi – Board Member

Invited authors

Giacomo Arrigoni (Italy)

Gilles Cayatte (France)

Ada Johnsson (Finland)

Christoph Behl (Germany)

Saula Benavente (Argentina)

Dana Budisavljević (Croatia)

Invited authorities

Dina Pokrajac – President of HDFK (Croatia)

Ljiljana Kuterovac – Croatian State Intellectual Property Office

Holding a congress of this magnitude is undoubtedly a major step forward in the defense of the remuneration rights that all audiovisual authors around the world are entitled to for the dissemination of their works.