The Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) has called on the Polish model of statutory remuneration for audiovisual authors to be extended to on demand usages.
In an open letter to Polish Prime Minister and Minister of Culture, it firstly congratulates the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage on the publication of the draft law implementing the EU Directive 2019/790 on Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive) in the Polish Copyright Act.
It adds that “The Ministry indeed built on the Polish existing legislation ensuring audiovisual authors a fair remuneration for the use of their works in the different fields of exploitation and supplemented it by adding video-on demand usages, which have become a prominent source of access to and consumption of audiovisual works for the audience. We trust the Parliament to support the proposed draft law to adapt the Polish legislation to the audiovisual market revolution.
SAA continues: By joining the group of countries like Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Slovenia, Lithuania and Estonia that provide audiovisual authors with rights to remuneration with mandatory collective management for on-demand uses, Poland is granting its audiovisual sector the most efficient legal mechanism to stimulate the production and exploitation of high-quality audiovisual works.
The letter concludes by saying: “We urge you not to miss the chance to achieve a balanced and non-discriminatory situation by introducing a right to remuneration for the digital fields of exploitation and fix the lack of fair remuneration to audiovisual authors in the digital market, through the implementation of the DSM Directive. This is essential to establish a level playing field for all economic actors exploiting audiovisual works and ultimately safeguard authors’ interests”.
