En décembre 2013, à l’appel de dizaines d’artistes des cinq continents tels que Mattia Bonetti, Hervé Di Rosa, Meschac Gaba, Brad Holland, Laurence Jenkell, Yan Pei-ming, Ousmane Sow, Frank Stella, Stuart Temple, Barthélémy Toguo, Albert Uderzo, Viswanadhan… était lancée la campagne pour demander à l’OMPI (Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle) la reconnaissance universelle du droit de suite, qui aujourd’hui n’existe que dans 74 pays, en adoptant un nouveau traité international à ce sujet. Ce traité rendrait le droit de suite obligatoire dans tous les pays. Il garantirait aux auteurs des arts visuels, quel que soit l'endroit où ils vivent et le lieu de vente de leurs œuvres, un pourcentage du prix de revente de ces œuvres et une juste rémunération de la part du marché de l’art.
Pour la toute première fois, mardi 23 septembre 2014, l'OMPI a permis à des créateurs de renommée internationale de s'exprimer lors des 54e Assemblées de ses 187 États membres. La CISAC, sous l’égide de son président Jean-Michel Jarre, a organisé une action sans précédent intitulée « A Sustainable Future for Authors » (« Pour un futur équitable pour les auteurs »), où six créateurs venus des quatre coins du globe ont mis l'accent sur leurs priorités, leurs inquiétudes et leur vision pour l’avenir du droit d’auteur dans le monde. Hervé Di Rosa a notamment parlé de l'importance du droit de suite si spécifique pour les artistes visuels.
Le processus d’une reconnaissance internationale de ce droit est bel et bien enclenché.
Success of the electronic voting at the General assembly on october the 16th
ADAGP held its General Assembly on Thursday, 16 October 2014 at the Salons Hoche, Paris. For the first time, artists and estates were able to vote online from 22 September to 8 October. This electronic voting was a real success: 1089 members voted through the website while 80 members attended the meeting in person. The large number of voters – the highest to date – proves that electronic voting is a key part of ADAGP’s democratic life. Concerning the 2013 exercise, the annual report was approved by 96 %, the accounts by 94 %, and the distribution of the sums assigned to cultural actions by 92 %.
European authors make their voice heard
Copyright is a significant field of activity at the European level, within both the Commission and the Parliament. ADAGP already responded in February 2014 to give authors their say by proposing a reply kit to a European Commission-initiated consultation having the potential to weaken authors’ rights and the protection of works. It also launched an appeal to sign a “Creators for Europe” online petition.
Europe is the leading continent for creative and cultural industries. A dialogue between European creators and members of the European Parliament is thus absolutely essential. In order to heighten the awareness of the newly elected MEPs, before the European Commissioners take office on 1 November, ADAGP took an active part, within
GESAC (European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers) and
EVA (European Visual Artists, chaired by ADAGP), in the “
Meet the Authors” forum held in Brussels on 24 September. Organised by
GESAC, this event brought together 400 participants, including 50 MEPs. Three panel discussions were held. ADAGP artists took part in two of them. Miss.Tic, poet, visual artist and icon of Street Art, stressed how important authors’ rights are for creators, both materially and morally, concerning the use and dissemination of their works. She emphasised that works are not mere consumer products to be lumped with the rest. Visual artist and painter Hervé Di Rosa, Vice-President of ADAGP and Chair of the international creators’ council CIAGP of
CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) addressed the major challenges for the visual arts today: 3D printing, the artist’s resale right and uncontrolled and unremunerated dissemination of works on the Internet. ADAGP’s authors welcome the remarks made by Jean-Marie Cavada and the other MEPs present and their commitment to protect creation in Europe. “
The tap must not be confused with the water source. We can do without the tap, but not the source,” stated Mr Cavada. Behind the “content” offered on the Internet, there are men and women, creators who want to reach their public while managing at the same time to make a living from their work and retaining the moral rights in their creations.
Lastly, at the close of this event, authors called for a true creative agenda, for growth and jobs. Indeed, to defend culture and its creators in Europe is to defend a sector whose economic growth generates stable, non-relocatable jobs, guaranteeing European diversity and wealth. The aim of this dialogue is to build a strong authors’ rights-compliant cultural and creative industry.
ADAGP will also be represented at the symposium on “
The State of Fine Art – New Perspectives on Artistic Copyright” on 4 November in Brussels: Marie-Anne Ferry-Fall will be taking part in a panel discussion on the resale right. Other panels will discuss copyright contracts, private copying remuneration and, last but not least, user-generated content and ISP liability. This symposium is a new opportunity for actors in the visual arts sector to present their positions in order to draw the attention of MEPs and the new European Commissioners to current copyright issues.
It is up to each and every one of the actors in the creative chain – artists themselves and the authors’ societies and organisations representing them – to commit to defending authors’ rights. A variety of methods exist: petitions, contributions and meetings with elected representatives, decision makers and actors in cultural life and the art market. The objective is essential: to explain and stress how vital authors’ rights are for artists. It is a big task in these troubled times, when the digital giants are calling over and over again for authors’ rights to be weakened in the name of so-called “freedom” of access to culture, extolling free use while they get rich at the expense of creation. No initiative is futile or worthless: authors must speak out collectively so that policy makers undertake to defend their rights in Europe and worldwide.
To read the authors'call for a european creative agenda :
http://www.meettheauthors.eu/MeetTheAuthors-CallforaEuropeanCreativeAgenda-A4.pdf
« Meet the authors » website:
http://www.meettheauthors.eu/
All the informations about the 4 november 2014 « The state of fine arts » forum : http://www.state-of-fine-art.org
Universal recognition of the resale right: inception of the process
In December 2013, spearheaded by dozens of artists from the five continents, such as Mattia Bonetti, Hervé Di Rosa, Meschac Gaba, Brad Holland, Laurence Jenkell, Yan Pei-ming, Ousmane Sow, Frank Stella, Stuart Temple, Barthélémy Toguo, Albert Uderzo, Viswanadhan…, a campaign was launched to urge WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) to secure the universal recognition of the artist’s resale right, which is optional at present and exists in only 70 countries, by adopting a new international treaty on the subject. This treaty would make the resale right mandatory in every country. It would ensure that visual artists, no matter where they live and where their works are sold, receive a percentage of the resale price of those works and fair remuneration from the art market, to which they are entitled.
For the very first time, on Tuesday, 23 September 2014, WIPO allowed internationally renowned creators to speak at the 54
th Assemblies of its 187 Member States.
CISAC, led by its President Jean-Michel Jarre, organised an unprecedented lobbying initiative: six creators from around the world hosted a panel discussion entitled “A Sustainable Future for Authors”, during which emphasis was placed on their priorities, their concerns and their vision for the future of authors’ rights in the world. Hervé Di Rosa spoke notably of the specific importance of the resale right for visual artists.
The process towards international recognition of the resale right has well and truly begun.
