CISAC General Assembly decides to suspend membership of Spanish society SGAE

Tokyo, Japan – 30 May 2019 – The General Assembly of CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, has voted for the temporary expulsion of Spanish society SGAE.  

CISAC has been working with SGAE for many months, following complaints which raised serious concerns about the society’s operations. These included discriminatory treatment of rightsholders and unfair practices relating to the distribution of royalties.

A comprehensive CISAC report containing recommendations for changes to the society’s governance rules, statutes and royalty distribution practices was presented to SGAE in April 2018. In December 2018, given the lack of progress by SGAE on CISAC’s requirements, the CISAC Board of Directors announced the opening of a sanction procedure. 

Today’s vote to proceed with the sanction of a one-year expulsion follows an in-depth analysis of recent reforms set in motion by SGAE’s new President, Ms. Pilar Jurado. While a number of welcome changes have been proposed, they have not yet been approved by the SGAE General Assembly. Further important technical work and changes are needed and expected by CISAC to ensure SGAE’s compliance with the Confederation’s professional rules for member societies.  

CISAC welcomes the positive steps recently taken to improve the situation.  However, it believes that the right path to a truly lasting solution is to ensure these reforms are completed, fully endorsed by SGAE’s assembly and meaningfully implemented by SGAE’s governing bodies. This will strengthen the position of SGAE’s management and convince Spanish rights holders and the international creative community of SGAE’s commitment to reform. 

The CISAC General Assembly has agreed that the sanction can be adjusted or lifted at any time, as soon as the CISAC Board of Directors concludes that enough progress has been made to implement CISAC’s requirements.

CISAC will carefully monitor the progress made by SGAE. It will continue to offer full support to the Spanish society’s Presidency and management team in the hope of being able to re-admit SGAE to the confederation as soon as possible.