For months, SKY Italia has arbitrarily decided to retransmit the creative works without paying any remuneration for their use, acting against the Italian laws on author’s rights and fair remuneration.
The Italian Authors are witnessing an attack on their rights. Since June 2017, the satellite digital platform SKY Italia, hasreneged on fair payment of author’s rights for the indiscriminate use of the works of literary, artistic authors, and Italian Audiovisual Creators, causing economic damage and violating the laws established by your own country.
The fundamental principles that “protect cultural diversity, as well as the right of Italian authors and publishers to freely choose whether to entrust the management of their works abroad or manage them from Italy for use in the national territory,” have been violated by SKY Italy, supporting the interests of multinational groups that try to undermine some founding principles of the European Union.
Finally, after fighting against the intimidations that received much of the newspapers from SKY – like the Financial Times, which has refused to publish the petition – it has been possible to make public the need to make the voice of more than 1000 authors heard (1500 fact), including four Oscar winners, in their petition against SKY Italia‘s decision to stop paying author’s rights, since June 2017. Not being enough, the local CMO, SIAE – Italian Society of Authors and Editors – has been sued in court – by Sky Italia – asking for compensation of 61 million euros in damages.
Author’s rights is an international labor law without borders, it must be enforced and respected.
ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE (English version below)
GIU’ LE MANI DAL DIRITTO D’AUTORE
Gli autori italiani stanno assistendo sbalorditi ad un attacco contro i loro diritti.
Da mesi Sky ha deciso di utilizzare i contenuti creativi frutto del nostro lavoro senza più corrispondere alcuna remunerazione per il loro sfruttamento, come invece prevede la legge sul diritto d’autore e sull’equo compenso. Non solo. Abbiamo appreso anche che questa emittente sta cercando di strumentalizzare un’istruttoria contro la Siae, pendente da un anno presso l’Antitrust, per cercare di dare una sorta di legittimazione al suo comportamento contrario al diritto d’autore.
Sarebbe grave se l’antitrust aderisse ad un disegno che punta ad azzerare un diritto acquisito che garantisce la libertà degli autori, per favorire gli interessi di gruppi internazionali che cercano di scardinare alcuni principi fondanti dell’Unione europea: e cioè che “la creazione artistica e letteraria, compreso il settore audiovisivo” non sono oggetto di semplificazioni e armonizzazioni forzate, così come vanno tutelate la diversità culturale e il diritto degli autori ed editori italiani di scegliere liberamente se affidare le proprie opere all’estero o gestirle dall’Italia per le utilizzazioni sul territorio nazionale.
Se questa strategia dovesse passare, assisteremmo alla incredibile affermazione del paradosso per cui pagando meno autori ed editori si otterrebbe un aumento della produzione culturale. Un insulto per tutti coloro i quali hanno contribuito a portare l’industria culturale al terzo posto nella nostra economia. Un’industria sana e realmente italiana, che è parte fondamentale della storia del nostro Paese e di quella ripresa economica di cui oggi tutti vogliono prendersi il merito.
Il diritto d’autore è un diritto del lavoro. Non è merce di scambio per garantire profitti miliardari a chi rifiuta di restituire agli autori quanto stabilito dalla legge.
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HANDS OFF CREATORS RIGHTS
Italian creators are shocked by an attack on their rights.
For months, SKY Italy has decided to use our creative works without paying any remuneration for their use, contrary to the requirements of Italian laws on copyright and fair compensation. In addition, we have been informed that SKY Italy is also trying to take advantage of the Italian Competition Authority’s investigation into SIAE, which began one year ago, in order to somehow justify its behavior, which is in blatant breach of copyright.
It would be alarming if the Italian Competition Authority accepted SKY’s vision to diminish an established right, a right which creators have earned and which guarantees their freedom, supporting the interests of multinational groups that are trying to undermine some founding principles of the European Union. Principles that protect from forced reduction and harmonization of “artistic and literary creation, including in the audiovisual sector”. Principles that protect cultural diversity as well as the right of Italian authors and publishers to freely choose whether to entrust the management of their works abroad or to manage them from Italy for use in the national territory.
If Sky’s strategy is successful, creators and publishers will be paid less. The assertion that this would result in an increase in cultural production is absurd. It is an insult to all those who have contributed to increasing the creative and cultural industry to third position in our national economy. The Italian creative and cultural industry is a truly Italian and healthy industry, which represents a fundamental part of both the history of our country and the recent economic recovery, which nowadays everyone wants to take credit for.
Creators rights are workers’ right. They are not a commodity aimed at granting profits in the billions to those who refuse to pay creators the remuneration required by law.
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