Directive 2019/790 is a historic opportunity for national legislators to restore the justice for authors and performers, providing for them the right to receive appropriate and proportionate remuneration when they grant their exclusive exploitation rights (Article 18, paragraph 1). Member states are free to choose how to apply this rule, taking into account the principle of contractual freedom and a fair balance of rights and interests.
The Bulgarian Law on Copyright and Related Rights still provides in Article 19 that the author has the right to remuneration for any use of his work. Is this a sufficiently effective guarantee for creators to receive a fair share of any users` revenue generated by their films? No!
FILMAUTOR is proposing a mandatory, irrevocable, and non-transferable right to remuneration for authors and performers to be introduced in the law, which right has to be managed by the respective collective management organizations.
See more! Support us!
“Granting audiovisual authors exclusive exploitation rights in their works but, in practice, denying them the possibility to obtain equitable remuneration for this exploitation, beyond what has been agreed upon in production contracts, is equal to granting authors no rights at all”.
The solution could be a legal provision securing an unwaivable and inalienable right for audiovisual authors to obtain equitable remuneration for any acts of exploitation of their works, in exchange for transferring their exploitation rights to the producer. This remuneration will be subject to collective management, administered by CMOs, and paid directly by licensees. Read more in the International legal study on audiovisual authors’ right to equitable remuneration for the exploitation of their works , commissioned by CISAC and SAA, author – Prof. Raquel Xalabarder Intellectual Property Chair – Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Barcelona ( https://www.saa-authors.eu/file/384/download )
According to Prof. Raquel Xalabarder, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya “the principle of fair remuneration in Art.18 CDSM not only confirms the important role of national legislators in securing that goal, but obliges them to explore and implement the full potential of these several mechanisms, adjusting them to different sectors as necessary. National legislators must now successfully complete the important task started by the Directive.”
You can read more in her study
“The Principle of Appropriate and Proportionate Remuneration for Authors and Performers in Art.18 Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive”
(https://indret.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/1591.pdf )
Presentation by Prof. Raquel Xalabarder, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, during the SAA Seminar on implementing the EU Copyright directive, article 18, organized on 2 June 2021
https://www.saa-authors.eu/en/activities/698-expert-seminar-on-the-copyright-directive-article-18#.YSSi4I4zYpu