Tokyo, May 27, 2019 – Heads of authors’ societies and creators from around the world gather this week to discuss improving the lives, the income and the protection of millions of authors across many repertoires.

Hosted by the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) on the occasion of its 80^th anniversary, the Annual General Assembly of CISAC – the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers – will highlight how authors’ societies are adapting to a changing market to deliver more value and growth to its global community of creators.

The meeting on May 30th will tackle the campaigns for fairer royalties for creators, upgraded technology to identify and pay songwriters online, and improved standards of performance by authors societies globally.

CISAC works to protect the rights and promote the interests of 239 authors’ societies from 122 countries/territories across all regions of the world and all artistic fields. The CISAC Global Collections Report, to be published later this year, is expected to show totally royalty collections in the sector passing €10 billion for the first time.

CISAC is the world’s largest global network of creators. Its member societies (also known as Collective Management Organisations or CMOs) provide a living for more than 4 million creators of music, TV and film, drama, literature and visual arts.

High on the meeting agenda are:

• The global expansion of the principles recently adopted under the European Copyright Directive on the digital market. This new legislation enables fairer remuneration for creators when their works are used by digital platforms and clarifies that user generated content services cannot benefit from misapplied “safe harbour” protection
• CISAC’s upgrade of its music identifier system (International Standard Music Works Code – ISWC). This plays a vital role in the identification and payment of songwriters online. The upgrade responds to the explosion of music streaming, requiring better and faster allocation of ISWC codes in the market
• Substantially improved performance standards across CISAC’s global membership. CISAC assistance and monitoring of its membership shows that there has been a dramatic improvement in the performance standards of its member societies over the last two years.

CISAC President Jean-Michel Jarre says: “Creators’ rights are a fundamental human right and I believe in them passionately. Yet, as history has shown, the advance of technology has created a never-ending struggle to keep the laws updated to each new era. In Europe we have seen the culmination of a 4 year effort to secure laws that will give creators a better deal when their works are used on digital networks. Now it is time for the global “ripple effect”, as we take this message to the rest of the world”.

Michio Asaishi, President of JASRAC and Vice Chair of the CISAC Board of Directors says: “We are delighted to be celebrating the 80^th anniversary of JASRAC by playing host to the annual meeting of CISAC in Tokyo. JASRAC today is working tirelessly to protect the rights of our member creators, and our success in that mission has led to our current role on the international stage as a part of CISAC. The coming days will be a chance to strengthen our collaboration with our partners in Asia and worldwide, and to highlight to governments the vital importance of copyright and authors’ rights to our culture and our economy”.

CISAC Director General Gadi Oron says: “This is a fitting moment for CISAC’s global network to be gathering in Japan, home to our some of most important members who are working actively alongside us to improve the lives of authors. Millions of creators of all repertoires depend on our global community and network to protect their rights, sustain their income and maintain the highest levels of integrity and professionalism. We’re making very good progress to achieve those objectives, but there is much more do, especially in the digital world where, despite the vast revenues being made by commercial users of creative works, most creators are not fairly rewarded for their work.”

Coinciding with the General Assembly, CISAC is releasing its 2019 Annual Report, which provides a comprehensive overview of its fight for creators’ rights globally. It will be available for download at www.cisac.org in English, French and Spanish.

CISAC works alongside its three Creators’ Councils: The International Council of Music Creators (CIAM), Writers & Directors Worldwide (W&DW) and the International Council of Creators of Graphic, Plastic and Photographic Arts (CIAGP).

Attached: “CISAC Priorities at a Glance”