site.btaAudiovisual Copyright Societies Meet in Sofia Nov 9-10

The international annual meeting of the audiovisual copyright societies united in the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) is taking place in Sofia on November 9 and 10, the hosts from Filmautor announced.

According to them, the choice of the meeting venue is not random as Bulgaria has a low level of copyright enforcement in the field of audiovisual. Bulgaria is the only country in the EU that does not pay retransmission royalties to film creators. The meeting is happening at a time when domestic authors are waiting for effective measures to be taken to protect the rights of Bulgarian and foreign rights holders.

"The main reasons why Bulgaria is at the bottom of the charts for royalties collected for films and series are the legal framework and weak enforcement.  Effective mechanisms are needed to practically implement the rights proclaimed in the European directives. Whether the rules work in Bulgaria is important for all authors worldwide. That is why Filmautor's hosting of the CISAC annual meeting is for us an expression of support from the international copyright community for our efforts to improve the environment in which audiovisual works are created and used," Filmautor CEO Maria Palaurova said ahead of the meeting.

In addition to regional issues, the discussion focuses on topics that affect the entire sector - artificial intelligence in audiovisual, market trends in film distribution, the role of collective management in co-productions and more.