Copyright – S.I.A.E.
In Italy, intellectual works of a creative nature pertaining to literature, music, figurative arts, architecture, theater and cinematography, regardless of the means or forms in which they are expressed, are protected in accordance with Law N. 633 of April 22, 1941.
The author is entitled to collect compensation in connection with the utilization of his work each and every time it is performed, circulated or duplicated. He also owns all moral rights to said work and is entitled, therefore, to claim authorship and to oppose any possible changes of it which could affect negatively or prejudice his honor and his reputation. Moral rights are not subject to expiration terms and are inalienable.
The author, or his assignees, are entitled to personally exercise all rights recognized by the Law, or to entrust their protection to the
SIAE (Italian Association of Authors and Publishers) by becoming members of this Association.
SIAE maintains offices throughout Italy, and performs the functions described hereafter. SIAE implements, on behalf of its members, the financial protection of their work through the assessment, collection, payment and distribution of the income resulting from the performances of said work to which the authors or their assignees are entitled.
The Association, however, is not responsible for screening, judging, disseminating and placing the work in question, nor for promoting contacts between authors or between authors and the ultimate users of their work.
In accordance with the European (Economic Community’s) directives, the duration of the financial exploitation rights on cinematographic work has been extended to 70 years. Contrary to previous regulations, such term is no longer effective as of the first public showing of the film, but upon the death of the last survivor in the team including the director, the authors of the script (including the author of the dialogs) and the author of the music specifically composed for the film. At the end of this protection period, the work becomes public domain. The authors of motion pictures and similar works who relinquish distribution rights to the producers are entitled to collect equitable compensation from the producer themselves or from the assignees of their rights for every single showing of said works by public release through air, cable or satellite. Additionally, an equitable compensation for each and every showing is due to the authors of any script representing the translation into Italian or the editing of existing Italian versions of the dialogs pertaining to films and similar cinematographic works. The above compensation is mandatory and, in the absence of specific agreements among all interested parties (as indicated in Article 16, Paragraph 1 of the official regulations), is established in accordance with the procedure outlined in Article 4 of Legislative Decree N. 440 issued on July 20, 1945.
The producer is entitled to effect such modifications of the scripts as necessary for their film adaptation. In the absence of an agreement between the producer and one or more of the authors the determination of the need for said modifications is made by a panel of experts appointed by the President of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet). The findings of such Panel are final.
Additionally, the authors are entitled to receive appropriate film credits which should include their name and the capacity of their professional contribution to the work.
The authors of the literary or musical components of the film are entitled to reproduce or utilize them separately, provided this does not affect or prejudice the utilization rights of the producer. Finally it must be pointed out that, should the producer fail to complete the work within a period of three years from the delivery of the literary or musical sections of the film, or to release the film for public showing within three years from the date of completion, the authors of said sections acquire the right to dispose freely of same.
SIAE
Viale della Letteratura, 30
00144 Roma Italy
Tel. +39 06 59902615 +39 06 59902806 +39 06 59902623
Fax +39 06 59902435
urp@siae.it
www.siae.it
Office open to public from Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 12:30pm
and on Tuesdays and Thursdays also from 2:30pm to 4:00 pm
S.I.A.E. Title Registration
The following intellectual works of a creative nature can be registered at the SIAE: novels, songs, short stories, poetry, characters, audiovisual works, software, databases, graphic works and other original works. All works may be deposited on paper, floppy disk, cassette, audio CD, CD-ROM, DVD, videocassette or videotape.
The registrants must submit their unpublished work by filing form n. 350 (full guidelines can be found at www.siae.it under the section “deposit of unpublished work” in the English section of the website) and a copy of the work, signed with first and last name of authors (no pseudonyms or nicknames) on each page of work including the title page. For CD-ROM, DVD, videocassette, floppy disk, etc., the title of work and signature of authors, must be submitted on an adhesive label affixed to work.
The filing fees to register a work of art with the SIAE are:
- - € 55,00 for authors registered with the SIAE;
- - € 110,00 for authors not registered with the SIAE;
- - € 220,00 in all cases where the person registering the work is not the author (or their heirs or legal guardian for a minor under 16 years of age), and have the authorization to utilize the rights to the work.
The title registration of an unpublished work of art, must be mailed or deposited at the O.L.A.F. Division, at the headquarters of the SIAE, in Rome:
S.I.A.E. Direzione Generale
Sez. Opere Letterarie ed Arti Figurative
Viale della Letteratura, 30
00144 Roma, Italy
Tel. +39 06 5990312
Fax +39 06 5990319
inediti.olaf@siae.it
www.siae.it
Membership in SIAE for all authors is for a duration of five years from the date of acceptance of the application, and may be renewed on the expiration date for the same period of time.
The SIAE carries out the safeguard of the registry for which it is responsible through the following sections, on the basis of their specific expertise:
- 1) Lyric Art (opera)
- 2) Music
- 3) Drama, operettas, musicals
- 4) Literary works and figurative arts
- 5) Motion Pictures
Admission to SIAE in the Authors’ category can be obtained in the following capacities:
1) Ordinary Member. Reserved for citizens of the European Union member nations.
2) Special Member. Reserved for citizens of nations which are not members of the European Union.
In this case, prospective members are required to submit an application using a special form available upon request. All information requested must be supplied, including the indication of the Tax Code. Upon filing the application, candidates must declare at least one finished work, according to the particular requirements of the individual sections.
Additionally, they must pay the following fees required for each section (inclusive of 20% I.V.A. value added tax.):
- 1) Investigation Fee (members of EU countries) € 122,66
- 2)
Investigation Fee (non-members of EU countries) € 143,32
- 3) Annual Membership Fee € 85,00
Film Department
The Film Section of SIAE is responsible for protecting film works including: films for television, T.V. series and mini-series, T.V. episodes, televised novels and soap operas, situation comedies, investigative films, T.V. documentaries, animated cartoon shorts of up to 45’ etc. to benefit the authors of the subject matter, the screenplay or directors as well as the authors of the translation or adaptation of the Italian version of the dialogue of productions originally expressed in a foreign language.
This protection covers the management of the authors’ fair compensation rights.
The agreements stipulated until now cover major television network broadcast use (RAI and RTI), while negotiations are ongoing for major theme channels and digital platforms as well as with video producers/re-producers of sale and rental for private use of videocassettes and DVDs. Among the duties of this section are maintaining the Public Film Registry within the context of the State’s contribution system assistance for the support of the national film industry.
In the stated document, the exploitation of any works produced, introduced, or imported into Italy must be registered.
Public Fees for Film Registration
- Feature film registration € 77.47
- Short film registration € 51.65
- Documentary registration € 51.65
Synchronization rights – Music production
Use of musical compositions in audiovisual and multimedia support. For the producer, the use of musical compositions as musical commentary in support of audiovisual and multimedia productions, includes the need to obtain the required authorization from the pertinent subjects; from SIAE covering the reproduction of protected compositions, from the music publisher for synchronization (matching the composition to the images), from the record producer/company for any eventual use of recordings owned by them.
Contact:
SIAE Direzione Generale
Sezione Cinema
Viale della Letteratura, 30
00144 Roma, Italy
Tel. +39 06 5990322 +39 06 5990062
Fax +39 06 5990006
cinema@siae.it
www.siae.it
Copyright Assistance
Legislation on Copyright and Neighboring Rights governs a film from the time when it is just a concept to the time when it is commercialized. It is therefore essential to have a good understanding of all the principles and regulations which apply in this field. These regulations are complex and the issue increases in complexity because, from the beginning to the end of its life, a film is subject to different legislations, the content of which may vary from one country to another.
Whatever the matter may be, (a national law governing a specific contract in the frame of an international co-production; a contract relating to the exploitation of a film abroad; the management of rights for special kinds of exploitation or the defense of rights when they are infringed in a foreign country), any lack of knowledge about the applicable regulations can result in considerable harm.
Reliable information on the subject is therefore indispensable.
However, the access to this kind of information is neither easy nor fast. For this reason, and with the purpose of helping professionals working in the film industry to answer legal questions arising in trans-national dealings regarding the development, the production, or the exploitation of a film more quickly and efficiently,
Cineuropa and the
European Copyright Institute are now offering two kinds of services which provide fast access to information against payment of a flat fee which is fixed in advance.
These two services are “Initial Advice” and “Legal Assistance”.
The Initial Advice Service
The Initial Advice service is a personalized consultation service which provides a preliminary overview for any person or company with a problem concerning Copyright and Neighboring Rights in Europe. This service covers the legislation in the 15 European Union member countries, as well as in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
This is a totally new service, which is the first of its kind. It aims to provide professionals in the film industry with the preliminary information they need to film in a EU country.
The questions must be no more than ten lines long. They may be written in French, English, German, Italian or Spanish. Answers will be given in French or English, as indicated in the request.
Each answer will be given by an expert on Copyright and Neighboring Rights. The name of the expert will be provided and it will be possible to communicate directly with him/her.
All questions must be submitted in writing to:
Cineuropa
c/o Italia Cinema S.r.l.
Via Aureliana, 63
00187 Roma, Italy
Tel. +39 06 42005798
Fax +39 06 4815820
info@cineuropa.org
www.cineuropa.org
Legal Department:
legal@cineuropa.org
Fax + 39 06 42003530
All answers will also be provided in writing.
The flat fee for this service is as follows:
- - for authors and authors’ associations: € 150 per question
- - for professionals in other categories: € 250 per question
These prices do not include VAT.
The Legal Assistance Service
The Legal Assistance service covers the following areas:
- - help with negotiating and drawing up contracts;
- - critical analysis or advice relating to existing contracts or projects of contracts;
- - trans-national research relating to one or more points of law;
- - opinions and advice regarding legislation in European countries which are not covered by the Initial Advice service.
The Legal Assistance service provides, for each case, a personalized package of proposals which contains a description of all the steps to be taken, as well as a firm, definite quotation.
The European Copyright Institute
The European Copyright Institute is a scientific non-profit organization which studies Copyright in Europe. The Institute is a meeting place for professionals concerned with Copyright, specialized lawyers and the world for education.
The Institute achieves its goal by taking part in important debates on the question of Copyright, by gathering and studying legislation, jurisprudence, and doctrine from all the countries in Europe, they study, in association with specialized partners, market developments and economic activity in areas involving Copyright, by giving rise to and publishing studies and research, organizing seminars and discussion workshops, pooling its members’ experiences, and keeping them informed of new developments.
The Institute has developed unique databases on legislation, jurisprudence and doctrine at European level. Its legislation database has been published in French - as a loose-leaf reference book and on CD-ROM - under the title of “Droit d’Auteur et Droit Voisins en Europe”. This database covers eighteen countries and all European directives and regulations, as well as all international treaties concerning Copyright and Neighbouring Rights. It will soon be available in English.
Istituto Europeo del Diritto d’Autore
Avenue Everard, 59
1190 Bruxelles, Belgium
Tel. + 32 2 3459094
Fax + 32 2 3445780
ieda@skynet.be
Contact: Michel Gyory – Director of the Insitute
michel.gyory@skynet.be
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