SPA’s President, José Jorge Letria, was re-elected for a new two-year mandate as President of the European Committee of Societies of Authors of CISAC, which held its annual general meeting (AGM) in Sofia, Bulgaria. More than one hundred executives of societies of authors from 55 countries Europe-wide attended this AGM, which took place on April 6 and 7. José Jorge Letria chaired the European Committee’s AGM for two days and, before that, he participated in important work meetings in Sofia, namely with the Minister of Culture. Vezhdi Rashidov is a well-known sculptor who discussed specific aspects of the relationship between societies of authors and holders of political power with CISAC’s executives.
During this AGM, in which several aspects of the activities of the societies of authors and of several transnational associations connected with culture and the making available of copyright-protected works were discussed, the city of Moscow was chosen to host the AGM of this Committee of the Societies of Authors of CISAC that will take place in April 2017. The President of SPA and of the European Committee mentioned the importance of choosing this city because it is the capital of a country where copyright can greatly develop and give even more strength, ability of self-assertion and acknowledgment to the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), which is headquartered in Paris.
CISAC’s Director General, Gadi Oron, was always present during the European Committee’s AGM, presided over by José Jorge Letria, and was honored at SPA’s gala at the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II national theater for the confederation’s 90th anniversary, which is being celebrated this year.
Besides the meeting with the Minister of Culture, CISAC’s executives present in Sofia also had a long work meeting with the Council of Electronic Media, which assembles seven public and private figures that analyze all the media activity in the country.
The importance of CISAC’s AGM that will take place in the beginning of June 2017 in Lisbon was highlighted during this general meeting. It is a very important event for Portugal and for author’s right worldwide.
José Jorge Letria was initially elected for this position in April 2014 in Vienna (Austria) and his term of office has now been unanimously renewed in Sofia, where an almost record number of executives of societies of authors was present. The new president of the European Committee will follow and coordinate some activities of the most important committees of CISAC, which gathers 101 societies from Europe and is considerably larger than the Latin American, African and Asia-Pacific committees. Its headquarters are located in the city of Budapest.
Lisbon, April 8, 2016
