OUR DEAR AND BELOVED SGAE (The End)
The price of lack of foresight
In conclusion, we need someone to manage our rights. They simply need to do so fairly, realistically, and with common sense.
A difficult year has come to an end, one in which the music industry has continued to see declining revenues and a drop in DJ bookings and events. However, thanks to pop stars like Lady Gaga and David Guetta, and truly underground parties—which are generating unprecedented buzz and setting trends, like Luciano's 'Vagabundos' in Ibiza—the dance music scene has grown in popularity. This same year, the SGAE (Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers) has continued to generate animosity with its modus operandi. We've now published 17 articles in SUTIL SENSATIONS and received numerous opinions and reads. I hope that, during 2011, this small section will contribute, from its humble position, to further improving the current situation. This has been our intention from day one. With this summary, I will conclude these three chapters dedicated to the SGAE.
(Article published in the December 2010 issue – no. 155)
As promised, and as is my custom, I like to compile the best comments received, creating a content-rich editorial in a somewhat original format. You can read all the comments at davidgausa.com.
Andrés Sanz: '(...) For me, they give the impression that the Inquisition has returned. As you rightly say, one thing is to enforce copyright and another to pay an indiscriminate fee for absolutely everything. (...) Let's keep in mind that NOT ALL WORKS IN THE WORLD ARE REGISTERED. With this, and just as an example, I don't agree with paying to play and listen to a song in a hair salon unless the "inspectors" prove to me that that song (or subsequent ones) is copyrighted. I know it seems silly, but let's remember (as seen on TV) that a bar in Barcelona was sued by SGAE (the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers) for paying royalties, and it was proven that the bar was playing songs whose authors had NOT registered them, meaning they were free to be played publicly.'‘
Andrés, I envision a future where all venues, clubs, or spaces that publicly play music, as well as radio stations, television stations, concerts, and musical events, register every song they play using a Twitter-like system. This system would send a central notification to which song is currently playing, and the information would be stored in a public database. If this were the case, we would know exactly which songs are actually being played in Spain, and I emphasize this because currently, royalties are calculated based on a survey conducted by SGAE itself, which they call "plays," without any kind of verified accuracy. In this future I'm talking about, the monthly payment would be reduced by the amount of any unregistered works. The more copyright-free songs, the less you would have to pay.
Pedro: '(...) At one point, I created a radio station and registered with SGAE (the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers) to broadcast music over the internet. I did things the right way, but it didn't work out, and I had to shut it down. Now they're telling me I have to pay or get a license for on-demand or downloadable music because they say there's material registered with SGAE. And I tell them, this website is like MySpace, SoundCloud, or Mixcloud. What I sell is space for the artists or DJs to upload their songs and promote themselves, and the artists do what they want with their songs; they're the ones who upload the songs to their profiles.'‘
Dear Pedro, first of all, congratulations on your initiative. Anything that promotes DJ culture is welcome! Regarding what SGAE (the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers) told you, I regret to inform you that, according to current law, if a work has an author and copyright, it cannot be made available for download, even if it's within a DJ's promotional set, mashup, bootleg, etc. I know almost everyone does it, but if you don't have the creator's permission, theoretically it's not allowed. As long as a song is copyright-free, it can be distributed and given away for download without anyone being able to say anything. You just need to prove it, and that's it. Although I'm sure there are more than one or two links on your website offering DJ sets, and even if your system is similar to SoundCloud, it's not legal unless it's done with the permission of the author or record label. I believe that if an author freely chooses that people have to pay for their songs, that should be respected, just as we respect those who give them away. That's called freedom of choice.
Eloi Comes: 'I believe a society like SGAE is necessary to protect our interests. I'll explain my case "for all of you who are against SGAE." To publish my first work, I used a distributor. After paying them to distribute and manage sales, the song was released. As usual, I convinced all my friends to buy it, and I eventually reached number 13 on a download site. The thing is, when I received the sales report, they told me that only 8 copies of the song had been sold, and not a single copy was sold from the site where it reached number 13. After two years, I'm still trying to get it back without success. What I mean by this is that in this country of thieves and crooks, it's necessary for someone to look after the interests of authors, so that everyone isn't manipulated. If it weren't for that, SGAE wouldn't be necessary.' I don't mean to say that I'm in favor of the digital levy, I just mean that SGAE isn't so bad for us authors either.‘
Eloi, you're absolutely right. I think no sensible person can claim that SGAE isn't necessary, although the real debate here is whether this organization you say represents us truly does so as we deserve. As a born fighter, I regret to confess that things have a long way to go for this organization to function equitably, genuinely, and with common sense. If that distributor has "stolen" you, I doubt SGAE can solve your problem. They could only do so if the stores where this song was sold paid them what they owe in royalties (which I doubt). And one more thing, Eloi. Unfortunately for many, there are stores where you can reach the Top 25 selling very few copies (less than 20/25), and that shows how things are when it comes to selling .mp3/.wav files. Keep fighting, my friend!
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