CISAC delegation visits Guatemala on licencing and copyright

Guatemala takes another step towards recognising and collecting royalties on behalf of national and international repertoire owners from TV and cable users on November 22nd and 24th during a visit by CISAC to copyright authorities and users. The visit was held as part of the Member Support Program, ratified at the 2017 CISAC General Assembly, in favour to AEI-Guatemala.

The delegation comprised SACM Licence and Collections Director Luis Cecilio Orozco, CISAC CLC Committee Chairman and ADAGU Legal Department Director Eduardo de Freitas, UBC Legal Department Director Sydney Sanches, AEI Director General Margarita Mendoza, AEI Chairman Jorge Estrada, CISAC Regional Director Santiago Schuster and Latin America Manager Carlos Bahamondez.

The delegation met with the country’s copyright office director and officials. The copyright office was mandated by the Minister of Economy to discuss areas including:

• Recognition under Guatemalan copyright law of  public communication in the terms set by the Berne Convention (articles 11 and 11 Bis);
• The use by television and cable users of national and international repertoire;
• Whether AEI is the representative of both the national and international repertoire and thus legitimised for collection.

The copyright office recognised these points, which will be submitted to the Minister of Economy. 

The delegation then met TV (Canal 11, 13 and 23, which is commonly known as the Albavision group) and cable (Claro) representatives. The user representatives agreed to the same above points, recognising that an international delegation could come to claim rights for the first time.

These users expressed commitment to formalise their relationship with AEI to initiate licencing negotiations and finalise them by March 15th, 2018.