Between May 2 and May 5, 2023, a hundred filmmakers, screenwriters, Authors’ rights managers, and lawyers (film, TV, documentaries, and animation) from five continents will gather in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in the Annual AVACI Congress (International Confederation of Audiovisual Authors) in order to advance fundamental aspects for authors' rights.
The event will be organized by AVACI together with DBCA (Brazilian Directors of Cinema and Audiovisual) in association with GEDAR (Authors’ Rights Management of Screenwriters) at the Pestana Rio Atlântica Hotel.
Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru will participate as member countries of the Latin American Federation of Audiovisual Authors' Societies (FESAAL).
Representatives from Poland, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Croatia, the Netherlands, and Kosovo will be present on behalf of Europe, while Azerbaijan will represent Eurasia. India and South Korea will participate from the Asia-Pacific region, and the African continent will be represented by the Pan-African Alliance of Screenwriters and Directors (APASER).
International support for Brazil
Filmmaker and lawyer Henrique de Freitas Lima, president of DBCA, said that "it is a happy coincidence that the great event takes place in Brazil at a time when film and television directors and screenwriters fight for equality with composers, who already perceive their authors' rights on public communication of audiovisual works."
Directors, screenwriters, and composers are the three functions recognized as authors by the Authors’ Rights Law in Brazil.
"The fight for fair payment of authors' rights for directors and screenwriters will be addressed in the Brazilian National Congress to update the Authors’ Rights Law (LDA, by its initials in Portuguese) to achieve fair compensation for the public exhibition of audiovisual works, a historic achievement of our composer partners," said the president of DBCA.
In this sense, filmmakers and screenwriters from all over the world will gather in Rio de Janeiro to give their explicit support to Brazilian creators so that they receive the corresponding remuneration for their respective works.
For his part, Thiago Dottori, president of GEDAR, the society for collective management of screenwriters' authors’ rights, stated that "the realization of the World AVACI Congress in Brazil is of utmost importance given our continental dimension and thriving audiovisual production".
The AVACI Congress presents itself as a unique opportunity to advance in crucial aspects worldwide and, especially, in the field of Authors’ rights in Brazil.
"It is a call for Brazilian authors, directors, and screenwriters to unite around our historic claim, which is the right to collect authors' rights for the exhibition of our works. It is also a call for the Brazilian Legislative and Executive Powers to act legally for the realization of this right in our country," said Thiago Dottori.
Finally, the head of GEDAR highlighted that "this international Congress is an opportunity to provide the public with studies that demonstrate how the audiovisual industry is strengthened when there is a right to this remuneration - as occurs, for example, in countries such as Spain, France, and Argentina. It is time for our country to follow the best practices for author remuneration in the world. It will be a historic meeting."