WIPO SCCR Side Event - Beyond the Credits: Strengthening Audiovisual Authors’ Rights

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Screenwriters and directors play a vital role in the creation of audiovisual works and are the engine of creativity behind this industry worldwide. The rapid rise of streaming and AI is reshaping the cultural and creative landscape. Yet, the rights of audiovisual authors have yet to be addressed by the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR). 

To discuss this situation, with insights from creators around the world, CISAC, FESAAL and SAA are organising an event at the 46th session of the WIPO SCCR 46th session, “Beyond the Credits: Strengthening Audiovisual Authors’ Rights”. 

Date: 9 APRIL 2025 
Time: 18:00-19:00 CET (ROOM A) 
Event will be followed by a cocktail reception (Salon Apollon)
Interpretation will be available in English, Spanish and French

Registration links

Speakers

Welcoming:  

  • Constance HERREMAN FOLLAIN, CISAC's Director of Legal and Policy
  • Ángeles GONZÁLEZ-SINDE REIG, Spanish screenwriter and director, CISAC Vice President

Panellists: 

  • Emmanuelle FOURNIER-LORENTZ, Swiss author and screenwriter, SAA Patron
  • Kenneth GYANG, Creators@CISAC, Nigerian screenwriter and director
  • Sergio VAINMAN, Argentinian screenwriter, ARGENTORES Vice president
  • Serge AKPATOU, SCCR delegate of Côte d’Ivoire
  • Christophe GEIGER, Professor of Law, Luiss Guido Carli University, Rome 

Moderator:

  • Barbara HAYES, CEO of ALCS, Chair of the SAA

The evening will include: 

  1. Testimonies from directors and screenwriters from different regions of the world explaining the challenges they face.  
  2. Discussion of their status, industry practices and how legislation protects their rights and remuneration.
  3. An insight into the proposal for a study on the rights of audiovisual authors and their remuneration for the exploitation of their works.  

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Speakers' Biographies

ÁNGELES GONZÁLEZ-SINDE REIG is a Spanish screenwriter, film director, illustrator, and children’s book author. González-Sinde Reig holds screenwriting credits for numerous television series, including Truhanes (1993-94) and La casa de los líos (1997-98), and 12 films. Her most awarded work was her directorial debut La suerte dormida (2003), which starred Adriana Ozores. She is the President of the Royal Board of Trustees of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and has overseen the presidency of the Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences of Spain (AACCE) since 2006. From 2009 to 2011, she served as the Minister of Culture of Spain and was President of the Film Academy between 2006 and 2009. She currently serves as CISAC Vice-president. 

EMMANUELLE FOURNIER-LORENTZ is an author and screenwriter, who studied philosophy and photography. She worked as a journalist, before dedicating herself to writing novels and screenplays. Her first novel, Villa Royale (2022), published by Editions Gallimard, won the Prix de la Fondation Del Duca, Prix Michel Dentan and has been translated into German. That same year, she co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film Passer l'Hiver by Swiss director Pierre Monnard. She’s currently co-writing The Other Girl, a fantastic teen series for Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), and Swiss-Portuguese director Jenna Hasse’s second feature film, alongside working on her second novel, Jacob.

KENNETH GYANG is a Nigerian screenwriter, director and co-founder of the indie film company Cinema Kpatakpata. His first feature film co-writing, Confusion Na Wa (2013), won the Rotterdam International Film Festival's Hubert Bals Fund. The film opened the New York African Film Festival, won the Jury Prize at the Pan African Film Festival in LA and Best Film at the Africa Movie Academy Awards. Kenneth has directed some of the most successful Netflix Originals from Nigeria, including Oloture (2019), Blood Sisters (2022), and Far From Home (2022). His latest features, This is Lagos (2023) and Mojisola (2023), have been Official Selections at the Africa International Film Festival and the Pan African Film Festival in LA.

SERGIO VAINMAN is an author, screenwriter, playwright, teacher, showrunner, literary consultant, and television producer with experience across Argentina, Uruguay, and Mexico. With a career spanning since the 1970s, he has written over 60 television series, broadcast across Latin America, Europe, and Asia. In 2000, he adapted the Dutch reality show Big Brother into Gran Hermano, which was produced and aired in Argentina. His accolades include numerous awards such as the Martín Fierro, Argentores, Broadcasting, Prensario, Fundación Huésped, Fundación Vitra, Premios Konex, and Universidad de Palermo. In 2017, he was honored with the Argentores Grand Prize of Honour for his distinguished career and advocacy for copyright. In 2019, he was named an Outstanding Personality of Culture by the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires. He currently serves as ARGENTORES Vicepresident. 

SERGE AKPATOU is the SCCR delegate of Côte d’Ivoire and a business lawyer specialized in intellectual property law. He currently serves as the Deputy Director General of the Ivorian Bureau of Copyright (BURIDA), after spending ten years as the Director of Legal Affairs and Development Strategies at the institution. Additionally, he is a consular judge at the Commercial Court of Abidjan and also works as an industrial property consultant, accredited by the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI). 

CHRISTOPHE GEIGER is Professor of Law at Luiss Guido Carli University and Director of the Innovation Law and Ethics Observatory (ILEO). Previously, he was Director General at the University of Strasbourg’s CEIPI, where he led the Research Department for 11 years. He is also a Spangenberg Fellow at Case Western Reserve University and was a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (2008–2022). Geiger served as President of ATRIP (2022–2024). Specializing in intellectual property law, he has advised the European Parliament and EUIPO, and taught globally, including as Global Professor of Law at NYU in Fall 2023. He has authored and edited several books, including Criminal Enforcement of Intellectual Property (2012) and Human Rights and Intellectual Property before the European Courts (forthcoming).

BARBARA HAYES has been the Chair of the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) since 2015 and the CEO of the Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) in the United Kingdom since November 2022. She joined ALCS in 2004 and served as Deputy Chief Executive from 2006 to 2022. Since 2007, her work has focused on lobbying for authors' rights at the national, European, and international levels. In the UK, she has been deeply involved with the work of the All Party Writers Group (a cross-party group of MPs and Lords), advocating to protect and promote the interests of writers. In Europe, she has worked closely with the SAA and continues to collaborate with the International Authors Forum at WIPO in Geneva.

CONSTANCE HERREMAN FOLLAIN is CISAC’s Director of Legal and Policy. She heads CISAC’s global policy and legal activities, promoting pro-creator legislation and collective management, driving awareness campaigns, fostering relations with international institutions, and providing legal services to members. She joined CISAC in 2015 and is specialised in intellectual property and new technologies. Prior to her time at CISAC, Constance held has various roles in the cultural industries. Starting her career in private law firms in IP and technology, she joined French authors society SACEM in legal and business affairs for the digital licensing department. Subsequently she worked in the Directorate for Media and Cultural Industries at the French Ministry for Culture and Communication. In CISAC, she was previously Deputy Director of the Legal and Policy Department.