Be careful SGAE is coming
February 3, 2010 in Daily theme
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Today before start the computer I looked under the table, inside drawers, under the carpet and behind the curtains nowadays must take precautions. You never know where would be hid the SGAE inspector. Probably some of my readers from other countries do not know what is SGAE, here’s a link that explains it, but there they explain themselves and then always look good.
SGAE (General Society of Authors and Publishers) has become a sort of Big Brother, a Bad Big Brother, who oversees our lives to a unimaginable extent. SGAE’s spies are able to get a video camera in a wedding and shoot it with the sole purpose to use this video as evidence in court. Of course video is recorded without permission of bridegroom without paying royalties to anyone.
That case would be questionable because the restaurant makes money with this music.
But what happens if we talk about a benefit concert?
Last year, David Bisbal performed on a benefit concert whose proceeds went entirely to treatment for a 5 years old child suffering Alexander Syndrome. Then, SGAE appears claiming for its share, only EUR 5.000. After media pressure SGAE returned the money as a donation, in his rebuttal SGAE argued that perhaps if there had been time authors concerned may kindly have assigned their profits.
OK, I’ll be good and I’ll think that in this case perhaps they lost in the appearances
But with the hairdressers case what they lost was the common sense.
Football also has been an SGAES victim. In this case, the victim was Badalona Football Club Badalona a small club that has decided not to pay the 140 euros that SGAE required for performing their centennial anthem. 140 euros per 4 games a month that is 560 euros for Seconds B league that is too money.
I think people able to create something has the right to be able to earn money and living at it, if only as an incentive to following creating. But there are limits and appearances.
Do I have to pay for recording backups of my own photographs on a DVD? My photographs or a company’s accounts. Nowadays that is happening in Spain. Probably in the future I’ll have to pay royalties because my uncle Pepe recite Garcia Lorca on Christmas meal. Really its seem absurd just as to claim 100 euros to Zalaeta Insitute students who were rehearsaling Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca for a school theater performance.
If things are going this way, then give me the list of authors belonging to the SGAE with sole purpose to others who may be also good and probably they don’t give me much trouble.
Perhaps now is time SGAE assume that the world has changed and perhaps SGAE must evolve instead to put press.
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