Meet our Member - FilmJUS in Hungary

FilmJUS is working in a country that can pride itself of having a long tradition of filmmaking, being the home of two Oscar winners, István Szabó with Mephisto in 1982 and László Nemes Jeles with Son of Saul in 2016. However, it also operates in a challenging political environment.

FilmJUS was founded in 1996 and signed an agreement with the’ umbrella society’ ARTISJUS in 1998. ARTISJUS[1] is the Hungarian association that collects the cable retransmission royalties and private copying levies from users and distributes them to the other registered collective management organisations (CMOs).

FilmJUS represents audiovisual authors, including screenwriters and directors, but also dubbing directors, film producers and others. They have agreements with over 60 CMOs worldwide, covering a wide range of rights and rightsholders.

György Kabdebó has been the president of FilmJUS from the beginning. Dr Béla Bánhegyesi was appointed as CEO from 2021. László Czető Bernát became the vice-president of FilmJUS and joined the SAA Board of Patrons in 2023.

“We knew Cécile Despringre when she was the CEO of FERA (which FilmJUS joined in 2008). We had seen her high level of professionalism, so when the SAA was created and she became the Executive Director, it was obvious that FilmJUS would join.”  

- Dr Katalin Petróczy

FilmJUS has about 2200 members, but thanks to its extended licence it represents all Hungarian authors (and foreign authors, where it has agreements). There between 4000 and 5000 authors who receive some payment domestically, the amount varies. FilmJUS has documentation, legal and financial departments, with a total of 17 employees. Their Legal advisor, Dr Katalin Petróczy, explained that FilmJUS’ activities are based on two laws: the Act LXXVI of 1999 on copyright (Copyright Act) and the Act XCIII of 2016 on collective management of copyright and related rights (CRM Act). FilmJUS mainly distribute remuneration to audiovisual authors for TV broadcasting, cable retransmission, on-demand exploitation, public performance and video sales.

Before looking at FilmJUS' priorities and challenges, let's recall the specific historical landscape that has shaped the Hungarian audiovisual sector. During the communist period, from 1949 to 1989, the cost of filmmaking was largely covered by the State, which both controlled and temporarily increased the number of films made. After 1989, production stabilised at around 10-20 films a year. Most films are still subsidised by the State and royalties remain very low. Only a small number of films are made independent from broadcasters and integrated large companies. Since the TV series’ boom around 2000, the situation for screenwriters has worsened due to buy-out contracts that leave them without royalties.

Advancing authors’ rights in Hungary: “It is like a big snowstorm. You want to move forward, but you don’t know how.”

- Dr Béla Bánhegyesi

Dr Béla Bánhegyesi described the legal challenges FilmJUS faces in its work to defend authors’ rights in Hungary.

First, what seemed to be a great success, was a lawsuit against the National Cultural Foundation (in Hungarian: NKA). Due to an amendment of the Copyright Act in 2011, FilmJUS had to allocate some money to NKA to support authors culturally, but it failed to do it. When the tender for filmmakers was never published and FilmJUS efforts were in vain, FilmJUS went to court to get the money back. The first instance court ruled in favour of FilmJUS, the second instance court decided against FilmJUS, and finally the Supreme Court ruled in our favour.

Secondly, a long-running case is still ongoing following the private copying investigation by the Competition Authority (in Hungarian: GVH), first in 2014 and later in 2018. The investigation resulted in the authority imposing very heavy fines on the five CMOs involved. The CMOs, including FilmJUS, have challenged the decision in court and are still fighting for their truth.

Thirdly, an important case concerns the CMO tariffs for 2024. According to its power, the Hungarian Ministry of Justice had approved the tariffs for the last 15-20 years. So, it came as a surprise when, at the end of 2023 the Ministry suddenly rejected the tariffs for 2024 for all CMOs, arguing that the increase of royalties was not adequate. The CMOs went to court, which ruled that the Minister had acted illegally; the ruling is final, but FilmJUS expects the Minister to ask for a review of the judgement. The loss of a fee increase for 2024 is significant due to the inflation.

The Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU organised a conference on ‘Intellectual Property in the Age of AI’ on 1st of October. The SAA was invited and Cécile Despringre participated, but FilmJUS never received an invitation. This lack of recognition of its national CMO shows the difficult environment in which FilmJUS operates. “The Hungarian Presidency had no noticeable impact on our work,” said Dr Béla Bánhegyesi soberly.

“I am first and foremost a writer, but I also have a responsibility to help authors to survive.”

- László Czető Bernát, SAA Patron

Although I was saddened to learn of FilmJUS legal battles to defend authors' rights in Hungary, I was pleased to see that the delegation enjoyed the SAA Council of General Policy meeting in person.

“The SAA meeting was a good opportunity to connect with colleagues from other audiovisual CMOs and to see that we're not the only ones with problems, so we can share and learn from the solutions of others”, said Dr Béla Bánhegyesi.

“I believe in a common Europe, and I see the SAA as a big project.”, added László Czető Bernát.

I wished them a safe journey back to Budapest and hope to see them at our next meetings in 2025. 

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Annica Ryng

Public Affairs and Communication Director, SAA

 

[1] ARTISJUS is the association of music composers, songwriters, poets (their heirs).