Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores

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The Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores (SPA) is the collecting society that administers the rights of use from copyright law for its members in Portugal . It was founded on May 22, 1925 . The Lisbon- based cooperative has had its current name since April 1970 . SPA also acts as a publisher and awards literature and music prizes.

history

In 1873, writers and playwrights attempted to found a society in Portugal to protect their authors' rights, which was unsuccessful. In 1911, a group of authors around Henrique Lopes de Mendonça succeeded in legalizing the Associação de Classe dos Autores Dramáticos Portugueses , which, however, had no more than 50 members and did not last long. Finally, on May 22, 1925, the author and translator Mário Duarte , together with a number of composers and authors (including Mendonça), founded the SECTP, the Sociedade de Escritores e Compositores Teatrais Portugueses ("Society of Portuguese Writers and Theater Composers") . The "Limited Liability Cooperative" was based at number 13 in Lisbon's central Praça dos Restauradores square. The first president was Júlio Dantas . In the same year a branch of the SECTP was opened in Porto . In 1928, the SECTP already had a network of agencies across the country. Félix Bermudes , who held the office until 1960, became the new president .

In 1968 the SECTP joined the Bureau International de l'Edition Mecanique (BIEM). In 1970, the SECTP adapted its statutes, issued in 1928, to its changed tasks. At the same time it renamed itself SPA - Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores , taking into account the fact that it now represented the rights of authors of all kinds of intellectual creations. After numerous moves, in 1975, after the Carnation Revolution and in time for the 50th anniversary, the new, own building was inaugurated. Under construction since 1972 and designed by architect Maurício de Vasconcelos , the SPA has since resided at number 31 on Avenida Duque de Loulé , near Praça Marquês de Pombal .

For its 60th anniversary, President Ramalho Eanes awarded the SPA the Order of Infante Dom Henrique in 1985 . In 1989 the SPA was a founding member of the Groupement Européen des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs (GESAC), the European umbrella association of copyright societies. After expanding her activities and opening another building of the SPA in 1990 at number 62 on Rua Gonçalves Crespo, she has been awarding the two artist prizes Consagração de Carreira (for a "earned career") and Prémio Revelação (for a "newly discovered talent ") from 1994 onwards ") at national level. On its 70th anniversary, the SPA received the Order of Merit from President Mário Soares in 1995 and introduced the Grande Prémio de Teatro Português , its prize for new Portuguese plays. In the meantime, the SPA awards further prizes, also to international authors and in a gala program broadcast on television. She has developed more and more far-reaching activities in recent years, and is now u. a. active in the promotion of culture, works with the police on training in combating plagiarism , and publishes the quarterly members' magazine Autores .

The enterprise

According to its statutes, the SPA is a self-governing cooperative run by authors of intellectual works . Today it includes around 25,000 artists from all directions. About 60% are musicians who are responsible for about 70% of the income. The SPA closed the year 2011 with a profit of over 500,000 euros, after over 700,000 in 2010. The writer and journalist José Jorge Letria has been president since 2007 .

Membership and structure

Any author of a published or soon to be published intellectual creation can become a member ("associado" or "sócio"), regardless of nationality or place of residence. The SPA differentiates its members into beneficiaries ("sócio beneficiário") and contributors ("sócio cooperador").

Every member is the beneficiary. It thus acquires the right to levy usage rights - royalties for its intellectual property, but also legal support in matters of copyright infringement. Furthermore, various services and discounts are available to him, including a. the use of event rooms and the extensive library (33,000 specialist books). Through its almost 200 partner organizations (including GEMA , AKM and SUISA in German-speaking countries), the SPA ensures that the copyrights of its members are also protected abroad, while in Germany it does this for the members of its partner organizations.

Depending on a minimum number of membership years, registered works and annual royalties , the member becomes a contributor and thus gains the active and passive right to vote within the cooperative bodies (in particular the management, general assembly and board of directors). In 2000 around 5% of the beneficiaries were also contributors.

The SPA maintains two types of partnerships. On the one hand, the cooperation based on the same interests, for example with the Ministry of Culture or the Portuguese Association of the Phono Industry ( Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa ). On the other hand, the culturally oriented cooperation with a wide variety of social groups, for example in the promotion of new theater projects, exhibitions of new artists in their own rooms, opening of their extensive archives, etc. a. As a publisher, the SPA is also an important cultural player in Portugal, especially its publications of Portuguese plays or biographies.

At the international level, it maintains partnerships with the UNESCO partner organization for copyright, the European Cultural Association , the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs (CISAC) and the Groupement Européen des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs (GESAC).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b HISTÓRICO DA SPA. on: spautores.pt
  2. ↑ Vencedores dos premios da Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores (SPA). at: cinedestak.com
  3. ^ "Linha da Frente" vence premio da Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores. on: rtp.pt
  4. ↑ Programa Autores: Torne-se Sócio. on: spautores.pt
  5. ^ A b Salwa Castelo-Branco: Enciclopédia da Música em Portugal no Século XX, PZ. Temas & Debates, Lisbon 2010, p. 1230.
  6. ↑ www.spautores.pt , accessed October 25, 2012
  7. ↑ ditto
  8. ↑ www.planonacionaldeleitura.gov.pt ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 25, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.planonacionaldeleitura.gov.pt
  9. ↑ www.bookfinder.com , accessed October 25, 2012