SGAE press release: SGAE partners approve management and accounts for 2016
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The members of the General Society of Authors and Publishers (SGAE) have approved the management and accounts corresponding to the 2016 fiscal year at the 2017 Ordinary General Meeting which was held this afternoon in Madrid. Of a total of 10,945 votes, 7,239 (66.14%) were in favour, 1,813 against (16.56%) and 1,893 abstained (17.30%). The Management report has also been approved. A total of 10,889 votes were cast, of which 6,290 were in favour (57.76%), 3,140 were against (28.84%) and 1,459 were abstentions (13.40%).
As was the case in the regional pre-assemblies last week, the annual accounts, the Management and Corporate Social Responsibility Report for 2016 and the Social Security Mutual Fund were submitted to the vote of the members. The SGAE 2016 Foundation Activity Report was also presented.
Important innovation: Electronic voting anticipated
This Ordinary General Meeting included an important innovation: electronic voting is anticipated. This measure aims to encourage the participation of partners who wish to take part in the decisions of the institution, but cannot always do so directly. The initiative also complies with the recommendations for the collective management of the European Union.
The challenge of digital transformation
The 2016 fiscal year constitutes José Miguel Fernández Sastrón's first accounts as president of the SGAE since he took office on April 20, 2016. "The SGAE must live up to its leadership in the field of collective management and join forces with all those who defend intellectual property rights. Our vocation continues to be to guarantee the members a fair payment for the use of their works", said Fernández Sastrón.
The head of the institution pointed out the added difficulty of negotiating new rates, as well as the importance of digital platforms recognising the work of the creators and compensating them for it accordingly.
"We have the challenge of online ahead: to make what is already a great distribution channel for our content, become a significant source of income for the creators; that ensures fairness for the added value we contribute to the development of the great business of the 21st century", explained Fernández Sastrón.
A realistic strategic plan
The balance of results shows that, despite the economic difficulties, copyright creation remains stable. In the words of the director general of the SGAE, Luis Felipe Palacios, "the new pattern of consumption puts a strain on the traditional organisation model of management entities." "It is essential to create a realistic strategic plan, which includes the necessary measures to improve our service to members," said Palacios.
In 2016 the SGAE earned a total of 239.68 million euros; 2.9% less than in the previous year (246.88 million euros in 2015)."The collection and distribution data would be significantly better had there not been a decision by some users to delay their payments under a free interpretation of the 2nd temporary Provision of Law 21/2014", explained Palacios, director general of the organisation.
- The SGAE members' DRAMAS generated a social income of 10.22 million euros in 2016, 2.1% more than the previous year (10 million euros in 2015). This increase is due to the improvement in the viewing of dramas in the theatre network and the significant presence of the programming of great shows from the national repertoire.
- In terms of public communication, 66.02 million euros were generated in 2016, which is 7.6% more than in 2015 (in which year the result was 61.35 million euros). This increase is a consequence of the implementation of several campaigns that have allowed the extension of licensing and reduced slow payment.
- Broadcast and cable revenues, for their part, have experienced a slight decline;namely 2.2% (100.43 million euros in 2016 compared to 102.69 million euros in 2015). It is important to note that the reduction in the amount collected compared to the year 2015 is due to the retention of payments by some television operators, a direct consequence of the uncertainty created by the delay in the publication of the final Ministerial Order of Tariffs and the start of a tariff negotiation process.
- In the case of the social income obtained by the SUPPORT of the recordings, video and synchronization (this is the establishment of music in audio-visual works), the decrease was 10.7% less (7.13 million euros in 2016 compared to 7.98 million in 2015) which confirms the trend of recent years. Despite this, it should be noted that the sale of recorded music has experienced a slight rise, driven by digital sales.
- With regard to digital markets (mobile melodies, legal music downloads, streaming or internet radio listening services) the income for this area has slightly decreased (3.3% less) compared to the previous year (5.87 million euros in 2016 compared to 6.07 million in 2015). In the digital field, the year 2016 was characterised by the evolution towards a consumption model based on the availability of works for online access. This change of model has effects in different areas. On the commercial side, it facilitates access to the cultural product itself, which goes from commercialisation by units to free transfer or access through temporary subscriptions to of musical or audio-visual packages, which causes an exponential growth of content traffic. This increase is one of the main challenges for the organisation, which should establish the necessary mechanisms to manage it in an agile and transparent manner.
- The SGAE accounts in this fiscal year reflect a decrease in the private copy sector (95.9% less). Revenues from this concept fell to 428,000 euros in 2016, a figure that corresponds to the payment by the company LG Electronics from 2001 to 2014. The Ministry of Culture has set the damage caused to the owners of intellectual property rights due to private copying at 5 million euros for the year 2015. Of this, 1.4 million euros corresponds to the members of the SGAE. However, the Public Treasury has not yet paid the management entities for 2016.
- With regard to social income COMING FROM ABROAD, this has amounted to 29 million euros, which represents an increase of 2.4% (compared to 28.38 million in 2015). This consolidates a growth trend in international management that has already lasted for five years. By country, the ten highest revenue areas are Argentina, Italy, France, the United States, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Peru.
- As far as CONCERTS are concerned, the sector has experienced a slight rebound; namely 3% more (20.5 million euros in 2016 compared to 19.9 million in 2015).
239.19 million distributed in 2016
Last year the entity distributed 0.5% more royalties among its associates. Specifically, 239.19 million was distributed in 2016 compared to 237.94 million euros in 2015. A total of 120,842 direct members (counting authors, publishers and beneficiaries) have received royalties in their settlements in this fiscal year.
More information on the Assembly and Activity Report at SGAE