SGAE gets re-admitted to CISAC after implementing transformative reforms

By Emmanuel Legrand

The Board of Directors of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) has agreed to re-admit Spain's authors’ society SGAE within the confederation, following the implementation of a series of reforms that "have transformed the society and its operations," according to CISAC.

  SGAE was temporarily expelled from CISAC in May 2019 following its violation of the international confederation’s rules, discriminatory treatment of rights holders and irregularities in its royalties distributions. The Spanish society had been plagued by a scandal described as "La Rueda", which did benefit some members of SGAE, executives and accomplices within media companies, poor royalty management and by conflicts between the various groups of authors within the society.

  The president of SGAE, Antonio Onetti, said the re-admission was the result of joint efforts from the collective of authors represented by the society, the various partners of the organisation, including CISAC and the Ministry of Culture, and the executive team that implemented the changes.  

A comprehensive package of reforms 

  SGAE's temporary eviction was followed by the request to implement a comprehensive package of reforms in order to comply with CISAC’s rules. CISAC said the Board of Directors decided to re-admit SGAE "after a thorough review of all changes in the society’s practices" that were implemented with the support of CISAC over the last three years.

  CISAC said the reforms that have prompted SGAE’s readmission include:  

  > Ending discriminatory practices in electing Board and Supervisory Board members;

  > Carrying out new elections to the Board of Directors and restoring the representation of all affiliated rights holders in the society’s management bodies;

  > Introducing a new Code of Conduct to address conflicts of interest;

  > Changes to the weights of different categories of music, and the separation of music and audiovisual pools;

  > A maximum 20% cap on royalties paid for music that is broadcast during night time in accordance with the law;

  > The development of a technology project to address the distortions in royalty calculations caused by inaudible music in usage reports.

A complex task

  CISAC’s Board agreed at its meeting on March 10th that "CISAC’S mission was to reform SGAE’s governance and push for revision of the distribution rules, and these have been achieved." 

  CISAC Director-General Gadi Oron and Board Chairman Marcelo Castello Branco said in a joint statement: “CISAC has worked for over three years to monitor, support and evaluate SGAE’s transformation into a society that is compliant with international standards. This has been a complex task of utmost importance both to CISAC members, who depend on the integrity of the collective management system internationally, and to Spanish creators and rights holders who deserve a well-functioning and reliable society. The reforms implemented should help SGAE better serve its members and international partners, and drive recovery in collections after the deep crisis caused by the pandemic.”

  SGAE's Onetti, commented: "With the return to CISAC and the approval of the statutes by the Ministry of Culture, our controlling bodies, we have laid the foundations for a more democratic and plural entity. Now we must all continue working together to achieve a more efficient SGAE.”

Adapt to international norms

  SGAE said that its statutes and systems are now compliant with both the Spanish and European legal systems. Changes include the extension of the vote to all members, the creation of the Supervisory Commission and the transfer of the executive power to an Executive Directorate.

  "During this period of institutional changes, CISAC has fully collaborated with us so that we could adapt to international norms and standards of collective management. It is essential that management entities require a series of measures whose objective is good governance, efficiency and good practices,” Onetti concluded.