Way forward on collective management in Europe mapped at European Committee Meeting in Tbilisi
The 2015 European Committee Meeting held its two-day annual meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, attracting more than 90 authors’ society representatives from across Europe. This was the first ever CISAC statutory meeting held in the Caucasus region in recognition of the remarkable progress accomplished by our Georgian member, the Georgian Copyright Association (GCA).
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Opening the event, the Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia Mikheil Giorgadze welcomed guests, alongside the EU Delegation to Georgia Deputy Head Boris Iarochevitch, U.S. Embassy Political and Economic Deputy Chief Kristian G. Moore, and National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia Chairman Nikoloz Gogilidze.
Organised by GCA, the organisation’s Chairman of the Board Giga Kobaladze spoke on their latest challenges and achievements following a comprehensive modernization process.
The meeting reviewed members' joint efforts to protect the rights and promote the fair remuneration of creators in the region.
Resolutions passed
Following discussions centering on various aspects of copyright and collective management in Europe, two key resolutions were passed.
The first resolution addressed the collective management situation in Ukraine and calls upon the country’s government and State IP service to regulate against ‘pseudo’ authors’ societies. Members also called on the Ukrainian authorities to support the Ukrainian Agency of Copyright and Related Rights' (UACRR) efforts to establish a modern and transparent collective management rights system in Ukraine, as well as CINEMA, CISAC's new prosivional member in the audiovisual field.
The second resolution centered on the copyright and collective management situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Members appealed to the Intellectual Property Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina to provide the necessary support to the Association of Composers – Musical Creators (AMUS).
Day One
CISAC Director General Gadi Oron addressed the audience about global priorities and projects, followed by Writers & Directors Worldwide President Yves Nilly, who gave an update on the global voice of audiovisual creators.
Groupement Européen des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs (GESAC) Senior Legal Advisor Burak Özgen outlined the organisation’s recent activities and gave an update on EU copyright initiatives and the implementation process of the EU Directive on Collective Management.
Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) Executive Director Cécile Despringre gave a presentation on EU developments in the AV field, followed by society Artisjus Hungarian Bureau for the Protection of Authors' Rights (Artisjus) Senior Legal Counsel Gabor Faludi, who gave a review of recent European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights decisions in the copyright field.
Day Two
The second day of the conference opened with a presentation about authors’ societies’ approaches to DSPs liability, presented by Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique (SACEM) Director of International Affairs Laurence Bony and RUR Deputy Director and Head of International Erik Valdes.
Visual Entidad de Gestión de Artistas Plásticos (VEGAP) Director General Javier Gutiérrez spoke about the need for a multi-disciplinary approach in licensing multimedia usages.
Author's Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) Information Analyst David Grundy spoke on licensing orphan works and the practical applications and the implications for CMOs.
CISAC Director of Business Standards and Rules Sylvain Piat gave an overview of digital fingerprinting systems used by CMOs, followed by a presentation on the proposed revision of the CISAC Governance Model.
Concluding the meeting, CISAC Regional Director for Europe Mitko Chatalbashev gave an update on CISAC activities in Central and Eastern Europe, followed by country reports and resolutions of support.