Blog
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AI and copyright: is a licensing market just a question of time?
What transpires from recent news about Meta’s use of a pirate website to train its AI model is certainly not good news for authors. Indeed, very disappointed but not surprised, the authors have entered 2025 with a further confirmation that protected works have been and will continue to be used without their authorisation. The news arrives at a crucial and turbulent time for the EU and its authors, for at least two reasons: the battle on interpretation of the text-and-data mining exception and the drafting process of the AI Code of Practice.
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Secretary General's January Digest, 2025
Although the days are slowly getting longer, I must admit that the way the world is going, I am feeling rather gloomy about what this year will bring. At the same time, I remain positive about what my dedicated team and our committed member organisations can achieve together!
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Interview with Cecile Despringre by UFUS AFA in Serbia
Read the interview by UFUS AFA PROTECTION's (the Serbian Film Authors Organisation) with Cecile Despringre, SAA Secretary General, for the January issue of their Bulletin.
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Secretary General's December Digest and holiday greetings
A few final words about the SAA activities in December before wishing you all happy holidays and a great start to the New Year!
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Receiving royalties should be a given, not a question.
Authors’ unwaivable right to remuneration and collective management was first recognised in the early 1990s, with the directive on rental and lending rights and on cable and satellite (see our timeline of key EU directives). 30 years later, all European authors are fairly remunerated for when their works are shown on TV channels, copies are made for personal use on devices or media and films are watched on streaming platforms, right? No, unfortunately not.
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Meet our Member - FilmJUS in Hungary
After the SAA members’ meeting in November, I had the pleasure of talking to our member FilmJUS, who had come to Brussels from Budapest. I sat down with László Czető Bernát (Vice President and SAA Patron), Dr Béla Bánhegyesi (CEO) and Dr Katalin Petróczy (Legal adviser) to learn about their work for authors’ rights in Hungary.
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Secretary General's November Digest, 2024
November was an eventful month of meetings with the members, policymakers and partners. Some of the activities included a workshop to set our long-term direction, preparing our contribution to the AI Act Code of Practice, delivering a joint stakeholder address to EU's Culture Ministers, and getting involved in 'Big Tech' court cases against Belgium.
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Secretary General's October Digest, 2024
In October, I travelled to Budapest and Warsaw, organised two working group meetings with the SAA members, prepared for our all-member meeting in Brussels in November and started introducing Luisiana, our new Policy and Legal Officer, to the copyright experts in the Permanent Representations of the Member States.
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Secretary General's September Digest, 2024
What a month of September! When I came back from my summer holidays on 20 August, I knew that it had a lot to prepare for September, but I did not imagine that the month would be so busy.
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Secretary General's July Digest, 2024
July was an unusual busy month due to the setting up of the new European Parliament following the June elections. The newly elected MEPs held their constitutive plenary session last week in Strasbourg. Together with my colleague Annica, we went to Strasbourg and had a few appointments with re-elected and new MEPs.
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EU Parliament: Guard culture, defend authors and resist the far right
We’re back from intense few days in Strasbourg, for the first session of the European Parliament’s 10th term. Like many other stakeholders, we met with MEPs and their assistants, some of whom we knew and who had supported authors’ rights in the previous term, as well as new MEPs whom we identified as possible new allies.
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Secretary General's June Digest, 2024
The sun has finally replaced the cold rain in Brussels, but the outcome of the European elections has contradicted this move towards a bright summer, especially in France. As a French citizen myself, I must admit I am looking for the silver linings right now… The results of the first round of the French general elections yesterday confirmed the high level of uncertainty on the future government of the second largest economy of the EU.
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