 |
|
|
|
|
 |
FIM will be organising the first international orchestra conference from the 7 to 9 April 2008 in Berlin
13/07/2007
From the 7 to 9 April 2008, FIM will be organising the very first International Orchestra Conference in Berlin. This event of worldwide importance is the first in its kind and represents a unique opportunity for exchange and dialogue for musicians from all types and sizes of orchestras ? symphony or opera orchestras, chamber orchestras and instrumental ensembles.
For the first time, orchestra musicians from all over the world will have the opportunity to share their experiences, which will help them identify together the best way to meet the many challenges facing them.
In particular, the conference will address the issue of the future of the performing arts, the challenges of the new media, contractual practices, working conditions and the career paths of orchestra musicians or the place of orchestras in society.
This event benefits from the backing of several unions including DOV (Germany), ver.di (Germany), MFO (Norway) and collecting societies OESTIG (Austria) and GVL (Germany).
International Orchestra Conference webpage: http://www.fim-musicians.com/ioc_en/home.html
|
|
Demise of ANACIMM President, Ali Zibo
03/07/2007
We were sad to learn of the demise of our colleague and friend Ali Zibo, on the 3 July in Niamey, Niger after a long illness.
Ali Zibo, who was President of the National Association for Songwriters and Performers of Modern Music, was first and foremost a great musician. He was considered by his peers as one of the pioneers of modern Niger music. He was always a fervent defender of musicians' rights in his country.
With his passing, the FIM African Committee loses one of its most loyal companions who was also a strong and endearing personality. We shall all miss his humour and good spirits.
|
|
Unesco: First conference of States Parties to the UNESCO Convention for the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions (Paris, 18-20 June 2007)
28/06/2007
The first conference of states parties to the UNESCO convention for the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions took place in Paris from the 18 to 20 June 2007, at UNESCO Headquarters.
Fifty-six states were brought together to draw up the major guidelines for implementing the convention and Rules of Procedure were adopted which provide a small but real role for "civil society organisations" whose activity comes within the scope of the convention.
Certain states formally undertook to contribute to the international fund for cultural diversity, such contributions being carried out on a voluntary basis.
The parties' conference also elected the twenty-four members of the intergovernmental committee whose task is to draw up the convention's guidelines. The following were elected to the committee: Germany, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Albania, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, China, lndia, Oman, Tunisia, Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Saint Lucia, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Mali, Mauritius and Senegal.
|
|
WIPO's SCCR fails to come up with a consensus on updating protection for broadcasters
22/06/2007
Taking place in Geneva from the 18 to 22 May 2007, the SCCR second special session was unable to attain sufficient consensus for convening a diplomatic conference in 2007 aimed at providing protection, with WIPO backing, against piracy of broadcasting organisations? signals.
Discussions, which have now been going on for ten years, have gradually given rise to fairly clear-cut reservations over broadcaster demands that are often considered as being excessive. The very fact that this matter is addressed against a copyright backdrop has been deemed to be inappropriate by a certain number of non-governmental organisations.
By refocusing discussions on a signal-based approach, the general assembly of member states had already, in 2006, reduced the scope of any protection that the SCCR might adopt.
Despite doing his utmost to bring about a positive outcome, President Jukka Liedes was, however, unable to achieve the necessary consensus concerning the more modest proposals submitted to the SCCR during the special session. And yet, out of the (too) many items of protection that were initially envisaged, the right of simultaneous retransmission was almost all that was left, with deferred retransmission remaining a difficult point that has still not been sufficiently clarified.
Over time, discussions have also brought out specific demands from the "friends of development" group of countries, with Brazil and India being the most outspoken. These press for the contributions of the Unesco Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions and access to knowledge to be taken into account, related to issues of limitations and exceptions.
WIPO Deputy Director General, Mr. Michael Keplinger, did, however, send out an optimistic message when he said that "member states had showed their determination to pursue efforts to achieve protective aims by following a signal-based approach."
|
|
IAEA signs the founding agreement of the GUF Council
26/02/2007
After the founding, in November 2006, of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) -resulting from the merger between the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL)- the creation of the Global Union Federations (GUF) Council marks a new advance in international union cooperation.
The Council's founding agreement, ceremoniously signed in Brussels on the 9 January 2007, confirms the status of IAEA (International Arts and Entertainment Alliance) as global sector union representative. IAEA's President is currently Tomas Bolme (also President of the International Federation of Actors) and its General Secretary is Benoît Machuel (also General Secretary of the International Federation of Musicians).
|
|
WIPO: situation still uncertain after the SCCR's first special session on the protection of broadcasting organisations
26/02/2007
After the SCCR's first special session, held at WIPO headquarters in Geneva from the 17 to 19 January 2007, uncertainty still reigns as to whether a Diplomatic Conference on the protection of broadcasting organisations will be held in 2007.
The discussion process, which has being going on since 1997 under the Finnish presidency of Jukka Liedes, could, however, be entering a positive phase. Despite formal difficulties due in particular to the co-existence of working documents with different statuses, certain points now seem to have reached a consensus, such as the introduction of new definitions for the terms signal and broadcast proposed for some time now by FIM. The question is now to ensure that clarification of these concepts gives rise to protection which is strictly in line with the aim of the future treaty, which must remain that of fighting against piracy of signals.
With regards to protection of audiovisual performances, FIM continues to request the pursuit and conclusion of the work interrupted after the unsuccessful Diplomatic Conference of 2000.
|
|
A study carried out by Forrester Research reveals that each iPod sold in the US contains on average no more than 20 titles purchased on iTunes Music Store
29/01/2007
According to the Forrester Research Institute, music sales on ITMS are allegedly plummeting. For the first months of 2006, the average amount of transactions carried out on the Apple site has allegedly dropped by 17%, with global turnover falling by 65%. Other sources point to the fact that the whole sector is reported to be currently undergoing a drop in revenues.
If it is increasingly clear that the business model that arose from the hardware support market is no longer a realistic hypothesis for the online sales market, it would also seem that DRMs and other technical measures have had their day as a global solution.
Added to the vitality of free file-sharing networks between Internet users, these elements plead for the maintenance levy systems for private copying demanded by the creative and artistic community, and even an extension of such models.
|
|
The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions will enter into force on the 18th March 2007
18/12/2006
The threshold of 30 ratifications, the minimum requirement for the convention to enter into force, was passed on the 18th December 2006 with the adhesion of the European Community and 14 of its Member States, bringing to 38 the number of countries that have remitted the instruments of ratification to UNESCO. UNESCO's Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, underlined that the threshold had been reached in record time.
Certainly the geographical distribution of the states ratifying the texts is still unbalanced: 21 countries in Europe, 10 in Africa, 3 in Central America, 2 in South America, 1 in Asia (India) and Canada. For the moment, there is a deficit in Asia and Arab countries.
After China and Italy who decided on adoption at the end of 2006, Brazil, Norway and Uruguay should soon be following in the wake, as should Germany and other EU states.
As soon as the Convention enters into force, its organisational structures will be set up. Since the treaty only enters into force for each party three months after ratification instruments have been remitted, the date when the first Conference of Parties will take place is of decisive importance, as only those states that are already Party to the Convention at that date may be elected to the Intergovernmental Committee. On the current basis, this would be dominated by European nations, with Asia being very poorly represented. However, it is possible that the first Conference of Parties might only be held two or three months after the Convention's entering into force, i.e. towards mid-June 2007. In this case, all countries who ratified up to mid-March 2007 could attend.
|
|
WIPO - A diplomatic conference on the protection of broadcasting organisations envisaged for the end of 2007
03/10/2006
At the end of the 31st session held in Geneva between the 25th September and the 3rd October, the General Assembly of WIPO Member States agreed to convene a diplomatic conference on the protection of broadcasting organisations to be held between the 19th November and the 7th December 2007.
Two special sessions of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) will be held with a view to "to clarify the outstanding issues". The aim of these two sessions, to be held in January and June 2007, is "to agree and finalize, on a signal-based approach, the objectives, specific scope and object of protection".
Taken at the end of the meeting and after intense informal discussions, this limited-scope decision still awaits, however, consensus within the SCCR. The positions of countries such as India, Brazil or the U.S. should, to a large extent, determine the process' chances for success. By focusing more clearly on protection limited to the signal at its 14th meeting, the SCCR seemed to have paved the way for an agreement, but this is not yet certain.
|
|
Computers for African musicians' unions
26/09/2006
FIM and the Belgian foundation Close the Gap are pursuing their programme to supply computers to musicians' organisations in developing countries.
In September 2006, desktop PCs, laptops and printers were dispatched to the Malawi musicians' union (MAM). This operation also enabled Malawi collecting society COSOMA to benefit from delivery of recent cost-effective computers. Laptops have also been shipped to Niger for the National Association of Modern Music Composers and Musicians (ANACIMM) and the Nigerian Copyrights Bureau (BNDA).
These operations were made possible as a result of the financial backing of three Belgian FIM member unions ACV-Transcom, CSC-Transcom and ACOD.
This programme is currently coordinated by FIM?s new trainee, Deborah Hankey, who can be contacted at the following FIM Secretariat address: deborah.hankey@fim-musicians.com
|
|
|
