The Federation of Latin American Audiovisual Authors -FESAAL-, their European counterpart Society of Audiovisual Authors -SAA-, and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers - CISAC - will jointly organize an online event on Wednesday, March 1, titled "Audiovisual Authors' Rights in Europe and Latin America". In line with the event held by SAA and CISAC on October 6, 2021, the objective will be to raise awareness about the remuneration rights of Audiovisual Authors, focusing on best legal practices from both continents, and inspiring other countries to develop a right to remuneration through collective management. Currently, Latin America and Europe are the two most developed regions in the world when it comes to collective management of the rights of Audiovisual Directors and Screenwriters.
This important meeting will be supported by numerous collective management societies, federations, and confederations of the audiovisual industry. Speakers will include Daniella Castagno -Audiovisual Screenwriter and President of ATN Chile-, Henrique de Freitas Lima -Lawyer, Audiovisual Director, and President of DBCA, Brazil-, Urša Menart -Audiovisual Director from AIPA, Slovenia-, Aleksander Pietrzak -Audiovisual Director and member of ZAPA, Poland-, Dr. Cristina Perpiñá-Robert Navarro -Director of Legal Affairs at CISAC-, Dr. Germán Gutiérrez -Author 's rights law specialist representing FESAAL-, and Frédéric Young, representing SAA. Janine Lorente, a lawyer and member of the World Intellectual Property Organization -WIPO-, will serve as the moderator for this meeting, which will feature simultaneous translation into Spanish and English.
After attending their 63rd assembly in Geneva, FESAAL and SAA authorities held a meeting on September 1, 2022, in which they agreed that the needs of Audiovisual Authors were absent from the WIPO's agenda and decided to work to strengthen their representation in it. The addition of the music confederation is explained by the strong ties it maintains with WIPO in different areas of cooperation. Among the event's proposals is to request that the WIPO Secretariat commission a study on the legal protection of Audiovisual Authors at the international level, highlighting the current differences with the rights of music authors and showcasing good legal practices of remuneration rights achieved through mandatory collective management in different countries in Europe and Latin America. This request must be submitted before the next meeting of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights in March 2023.
Although several countries in both regions currently have a legal system that allows for fair remuneration for Audiovisual Authors, what is collected by them represents only 6% of what is collected by the music confederation, a figure that highlights the inequality of rights between Authors in both disciplines. A continuous remuneration right for all Audiovisual Directors and Screenwriters worldwide for the public exhibition of their works is getting closer.