Directors and authors representatives, as well as industry stakeholders from a dozen of European countries gathered in Ljubljana to discuss audiovisual authors’ rights and remuneration challenges. 

The opportunities to bring more fairness to industry practices presented by the September 2016 EU Commission second copyright package were examined, from fairer remuneration in contracts, to pragmatic solutions for authors’ to share in the economic success of their works, like the introduction of an unwaivable authors’ right to remuneration for the online uses of audiovisual works, or the necessary improvements of the retransmission remuneration right and its implementation. 

A stimulating and fruitful exchange brought forward a strong will to act together to rebalance the EU copyright regime towards fairer terms for authors like directors and screenwriters, who are at the very heart of the audiovisual industry. 

FERA Chair Dan Clifton commented:  "As audiovisual Authors, we welcome the proposals by the European Commission to develop greater transparency and fairer remuneration for authors.  We now look forward to working with the European Parliament and Council of Ministers to strengthen these proposals and ensure they have real teeth."

The FERA (Federation of European Film Directors) workshop « Copyright in the Digital Single Market : Audiovisual authors’ need for fair and proportionate remuneration »  took place in Ljubljana on February 2-3 2017. It was hosted by Slovene members DSR (Directors Guild of Slovenia) and Zavod AIPA, and organized in association with SAA (Society of Audiovisual Authors) and FSE (Federation of Screenwriters in Europe).