Advancing audiovisual authors' rights in Europe

About the SAA

• The umbrella association of European collective management organisations representing audiovisual authors.
• 34 members in 26 countries manage rights for over 167,000 European screenwriters and directors in film, television and other media.

CMOs are a key part of the audiovisual ecosystem

Authors join a collective management organisation (CMO) to receive royalties for uses of their works that they would not be able to enforce on their own.

• Represent and enforce audiovisual authors’ rights by negotiating licensing agreements with broadcasters, retransmission operators, streaming platforms and other users on behalf of their members.
• Ensure that the authors’ rights are respected and that the authors actually receive royalties for the use of their works. These royalties help authors make a living, invest in new projects and sustain their careers.
• Promote cultural diversity by enabling the dissemination of audiovisual works to audiences.
• Contribute to the growth of the audiovisual market by providing efficient licensing solutions and reducing transaction costs.

In the EU, CMOs are regulated by the 2014 Collective Rights Management Directive which harmonised minimum requirements on the rights of rightsholders, governance, transparency and accountability of CMOs. In a 2021 report, the EU Commission concluded that CMOs are fulfilling their role and are having a positive effect on rightsholders and on the licensing market.

SAA members’ collections

A total of €700,10 million of royalties collected (2022)

• 37% broadcasting
• 25.2% retransmission
• 15.2% private copying
• 9.7% online/on-demand uses
• 9.5% others

The diversity and concentration of the European audiovisual media sector

(European Audiovisual Observatory, 2022)

• €130 billion in value in 2022 (€95 billion for the EU)
• 9 349 TV channels and 3 315 VOD services and video-sharing platforms.
• 85% of VOD viewing time is generated by only 3 services (Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+)
• US companies are the largest group among the top 20 European audiovisual groups in terms of operating revenues.

Fiction titles commissioned

• 12% global streamers
• 32% private broadcasters
• 55% public broadcasters

A fragmented market for audiovisual authors

Film and TV writers and directors are at the heart of the creative process in the audiovisual sector. However, their legal and economic situation differs widely from one country to another. Thanks to the EU harmonised collective management of the retransmission right in the 1990s, audiovisual authors have received increased revenues for the retransmission of their works. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all types of exploitation, which means authors are denied fair remuneration based on the success of their works. The scope of the collectively managed rights varies per country, which results in different levels of revenues. Because legislation and markets are still fragmented, audiovisual authors don’t receive royalties on all media in all European countries.

#WeLoveAuthors