Newsletter // March 2018

SAA General Assembly meeting and reception 

The SAA members gathered in Brussels for their yearly General Assembly meeting on 27 and 28 March. Among other items, they discussed SAA's key achievements in 2017 and the continued work on the draft Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, draft Broadcasting and Retransmission Regulation and the draft revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive. They also welcomed a new member, LATGA from Lithuania, which increases SAA membership to 32 members from 24 European countries. On the evening of the 27^th, SAA members had the pleasure to welcome EU institutions’ representatives and partners for a reception in the brand new premises of the European House of Authors.

Online petition in support of screenwriters and directors in Europe

On 31 January, FERA, FSE and SAA published a declaration signed by 126 prominent European screenwriters and directors. It calls on the EU to provide audiovisual authors with a remuneration scheme for the on-demand exploitation of their works in the new Copyright Directive currently under discussion (read our press release). The petition has already reached more than 14.300 signatories from over 100 countries and has been supported by CISAC in a letter to the European Parliament by its President and vice-Presidents. Sign, share and learn more on our campaign page. We also share testimonies by authors and signatories of the petition on our social media.

Panel discussion on audiovisual authors' remuneration in Berlin

On 18 February, during the Berlin International Film Festival, Bild-Kunst (SAA member) and BVR (FERA member) organised a panel-discussion on audiovisual authors’ remuneration with German MEPs Axel Voss and Helga Trüpel. Cécile Despringre, SAA Executive Director made a keynote speech (watch the video) by presenting the context of the new Copyright Directive and the SAA proposal. Here you can read more (in German) and view Cécile Despringre's power point presentation (in English).

"Les Cinéastes invitent" the Austrian screenwriter, director and actor Josef Hader

The latest edition of "Les Cinéastes Invitent L’Ami Européen" brought Austrian screenwriter, director and actor Josef Hader to Paris on 13^th March to present his comedy film “Wilde Maus”. You can see his interview made in partnership with Cineuropa.org here.

Successful Audiovisual Authors Workshop in Ljubljana

On 1 and 2 February, FERA, FSE and SAA were partners of the EU Audiovisual Authors’ Workshop on "How to effectively shape authors' rights policy for the audiovisual sector at national and EU level", organised by AIPA and DSR in Ljubljana, Slovenia (3^rd edition). Watch the video from the workshop.

Follow SAA’s blog 

Sign up for email updates when a new blog is posted on our website. The latest blog posts are:

23/03/2018 - SAA’s key achievements in 2 minutes
08/03/2018 - Where are the female directors and screenwriters?
27/02/2018 - Online copyright: will the EU be a global front-runner or a bystander?
16/02/2018 - Copyright, a new world to me
31/01/2018 - A screenwriter’s life
22/01/2018 - Will 2018 be a Happy New Year for Audiovisual Authors?

Older posts can be found here. You can also follow us on social media links below.

Changes in the SAA team

We thank Joana Oliveira, SAA’s Office Manager and Communication Assistant, for her dedicated work with us over the years and wish her all the best with her future adventures. We welcome Elise Liégeois, new SAA Office Manager who is joining the team.