ECSA European Composer & Songwriter Alliance

📣 A message to all newly elected MEPs from 13 international and European organisations representing creators, authors’, artists, performers’ and creative workers, including ECSA. 👏 We congratulate all the newly elected Members of the European Parliament. In the next years, they will have to make key decisions on crucial EU policies related to generative Artificial Intelligence in the cultural and creative sectors. AI represents an extraordinary technological advancement with immense potential to enhance various aspects of our lives, including in our sectors. However, #genAI models in existence today have been trained in secrecy on our members works and personal data, without consent nor remuneration from the creators and artists we represent. In sharp contrast to current practices, we firmly believe that authors and performers must be able to decide whether their works should be used by generative AI and, if they do so, be fairly remunerated. ❗We urge all MEPs to place #consent, #transparency and #remuneration at the heart of all their initiatives related to the use of AI in the cultural and creative sectors: We ask MEPs to: 👉 Question the flaws and misinterpretation of the current EU Copyright framework (TDM exception) in relation to generative AI. 👉 Ensure the AI Act is implemented in an effective way to preserve fundamental rights, promote the highest level of transparency, and enable authors and performers to exercise their rights. 🤝 As a new EU policy cycle is about to start, we call for determined action by MEPs to engage in a comprehensive and democratic debate leading to a clear legal framework preserving the rights of creators and the integrity of their works. ➡️ Full letter: bit.ly/4cTxo4G Signatories: CEATL, ECSA, European Federation of Journalists, EGAIR - European Guild for Artificial Intelligence Regulation, European Writers' Council (EWC), FERA - Federation of European Screen Directors, FIA (International Federation of Actors), International Federation of Musicians, FSE Federation of Screenwriters in Europe, International Artist Organisation - IAO, International Federation of Journalists, UNI Global Union, UVA - United Voice Artists.

🎥 Kicking off your career as a #FilmComposer? Want to work on your skills by gaining career and industry insights? Submit your CV to get a chance to get selected for our mentoring course with George Christopoulos (Film Composers Talent Agency OTICONS Ltd.)! More info: ⬇️

Coming up next week: ECSA President Helienne Lindvall speaking on #AI as well as on collective management at music and tech conference Wallifornia in Liège, Belgium! 🇧🇪 🟢 Wednesday, 10 July: "Spotting the Synthetic: Unveiling AI-Generated Music" Helienne, Priyanka Khimani (Khimani & Associates), Tom Frederikse (Clintons), Alexandre Louiset (Ircam amplify) and Thijs Verhulst (Music Tech Netherlands) cover the challenges of identifying AI-generated works, the implications for copyright and royalties, and the role of platforms and legal frameworks in safeguarding originality. 🟢 Thursday, 11 July: "How Does a Collective Management Company Diversify and Develop New Businesses?" Helienne, Neeta Ragoowansi (NPREX), Oliver Kruse (GEMA), Christophe Van Vaerenbergh (PlayRight SC/CV) and Bertrand POLOU (SACEM) explore how we can leverage collective management organisations' expertise for enhanced support for artists and creators. ➡️ Full programme and more info: https://bit.ly/4clvrhc

Our monthly news is out! This month, read all about: 🔵 ECSA welcomes Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA) legal actions taken against Suno and Udio 🔵 #CamilleAwards24: nominees and Outstanding Contribution Award winner 🔵 Upcoming panel on #AI at SoundTrack_Cologne 🔵 Looking back: panel on streamer contracts at Buma Music in Motion Special 🔵 Open call: mentoring course for film composers with OTICONS Ltd., European Music Council's EFM, and a lot more! ➡️ Read the full newsletter: https://bit.ly/45Gzd2d

We welcome the recent legal actions by the Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA) against Suno and Udio to safeguard human creativity and promote responsible AI models. ECSA encourages similar legal actions by composer and songwriters' contractual counterparts in Europe and beyond. We embrace transparent #GenerativeAI models that comply with the principles of creators’ consent and fair remuneration. Unfortunately, too many AI companies hide behind confidentiality to ignore copyright and the rights of #MusicCreators. While welcoming legal actions, we also urge European decision makers to ensure a clear legal framework preserving the rights and works of creators, and to address the numerous open issues linked to the Text and Data Mining exception (Art. 4 of the DSM Directive). ➡️Read our statement below, or via: https://bit.ly/4cEkDKR

🎬 Opportunity for European film composers: Film Music Business mentoring course! In the frame of the #CamilleAwards, we are happy to once again partner up with OTICONS Ltd. to organise the “Film Music Business Career Mentoring for European Film Composers”; a 2-day mentoring course performed by George Christopoulos (Founder & CEO of Oticons). The course offers career advice and industry insights, to help the winner(s) carve a realistic, efficient and successful career path as film composer. Interested? Submissions are open until 25 August. ➡️ More information and submission form: https://bit.ly/45Ks7K3 #FilmComposer #Mentoring

We are thrilled to reveal the nominees of the 2024 edition of the Camille Awards. Nominees for "Best Film Score" Dalibor Grubacevic (Croatia) for "The Conversation" Baba Stiltz (Sweden) for "Shame on Dry Land" Alfonso de Vilallonga (Spain) for "Robot Dreams" Nominees for “Best Score for a Feature Documentary” Nainita Desai (United Kingdom) for "The Deepest Breath" Anna Rice (Ireland) for "I Dream in Photos" Jonas Struck (Denmark) for "Apolonia, Apolonia" Nominees for “Best Original Music for a Drama Series” Blair Mowat (United Kingdom) for "Nolly" Hannah Peel (Northern Ireland, United Kingdom) for "The Midwich Cuckoos" Arnau Vilà (Spain) for "Las Noches de Tefía" An international jury of renowned composers will now elect their favourite piece of work in each category. The final winners will be announced at the Camille Awards ceremony, taking place on 13th November at the BNF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) in Paris, France. ➡️ Press release: https://bit.ly/3KOfi7N #CamilleAwards24 #FilmComposer #FilmMusic HDS ZAMP SKAP - Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors MUSIMAGEN . PCAM Society Screen Composers Guild of Ireland

We are delighted to announce that Miriam Cutler will be presented with an Outstanding Contribution Award at the 2024 edition of the Camille Awards. She will be honoured in recognition of her long and exceptional career both as a composer and an outstanding advocate for inclusivity in the world of film music. In receiving this award, Miriam Cutler joins a select group of distinguished composers, including Maestro Ennio Morricone, who received the award in 2020. ➡️ Press release: https://bit.ly/3ySQ6KB #FilmComposer #FilmMusic MUSIMAGEN . Screen Composers Guild of Ireland OTICONS Ltd. PCAM Society U2C .Union des compositrices et des compositeurs

📢 “Rights don’t necessarily have to be exclusive, in certain cases you can negotiate for a non-exclusive rights transfer. You are allowed to ask for better conditions.” — ECSA Board Member Anselm Kreuzer at our panel “How to Tackle Streamer Contracts” at Buma Music in Motion Special 2024. 👉 Panelists Anselm Kreuzer (Composers Club), Valerie Dobbelaere (Strike A Score), Marc Huiskamp (BumaStemra) and moderator Mark Gordon (Score Draw) talked streamer contracts, discussing buyouts, soundtrack and publishing rights, royalties, and much more. A special thanks to Buma Music in Motion for hosting us!

In the latest #FutureEurope issue, ECSA's Helienne Lindvall and Tobias Stigaard Stenkjær offer recommendations to inspire policy makers in fixing music streaming and designing solutions that benefit all. Many thanks to European Liberal Forum for featuring our article! Read below: ⬇️ #MusicStreaming #FixStreaming