SGAE's board names Adrian Estrepo as director general

By Emmanuel Legrand 

 

SGAE's Board of Directors has appointed Adrián Restrepo Rendón, an intellectual property expert from Colombia, as the new Director General of the Spanish music rights society. He replaces outgoing director general, Juan Carlos Angaramo, whose contract ended on March 5. 

 

  The arrival of Restrepo, 54, a respected IP expert, could help appease some concerns about SGAE's implementation of the society's statutes, voted for the general assembly on January 30, and the modernisation of its rights management systems. 

 

   SGAE said that the appointment of Adrián Restrepo will allow the organisation "to boost its international strategy," and undertake its "digital transformation to adapt it to the new challenges in copyright management."

 

New technologies specialist

 

  Restrepo is a systems engineer and specialist in new technologies applied to the management of intellectual property. He is the former CEO of Colombian society SAYCO, and also worked for Peru's APDAYC as deputy general manager.

  He was a member of the internal audit committee of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) and worked with CISAC to implement CISAC's Common Information System (CIS) and infrastructures for societies in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, within the LatinNet program.

  CISAC's board decided in June 2019 to suspend SGAE's membership to the global confederation. However, a spokesperson for the Paris-based organisation said CISAC "was not aware of [Respreto's] appointment before it took place" and "does not endorse his appointment or takes any view or position with respect to it." 

 

Strengthen the society

  SGAE also announced that Chief Financial Officer Gerardo Rodríguez will step down "by mutual agreement" to allow Restrepo to find the best candidate for the job in order to implement the digital transformation project and the international initiatives. SGAE's Secretary General, Germán Bercovitz, will also be leaving the society "by mutual agreement" and, according to the statutes, will be replaced by SGAE's chief legal counsel Marta Beca until further decision from the Board of Directors. 

 

  SGAE President Pilar Jurado, said the changes will allow the society to “strengthen itself with people having maximum technical competence and an international management experience,” and focus on “improving service to our partners, increasing the collection of authors and strengthening our international role."