International societies
Internationally, ALCS holds agreements with over 50 similar organisations in 43 countries.
We are a member of the Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), the European Writers' Congress (EWC) and the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO). We work with all three organisations on different initiatives, eg, standard identifiers, lobbying in Europe etc.
CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, works towards increased recognition and protection of creators’ rights. CISAC was founded in 1926 and is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation. Its headquarters are in Paris, with regional offices in Budapest, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg and Singapore.
CISAC’s main activities and member services aim to:
- Strengthen and develop the international network of copyright societies;
- Secure a position for creators and their collective management organisations in the international scene;
- Adopt and implement quality and technical efficiency criteria to increase copyright societies’ interoperability;
- Support societies’ strategic development in each region and in each repertoire;
- Retain a central database allowing societies to exchange information efficiently;
- Participate in improving national and international copyright laws and practices.
The EWC is the Federation of 57 writers' associations in 30 countries of Europe, representing some 58,000 individual authors and literary translators.
The EWC champions the diversity of literatures while raising awareness for both the role of creators & culture for the EU Lisbon Agenda and the common need of creators to have their moral and economic rights respected in the digital age.
The EWC defends the professional interests of its members, all being part of civil society at European and national levels, in legal and political contexts, concerning cultural and social policy.
The EWC remains determined to raise and publicly present the commitment of professional writers and literary translators to shaping the profile of Europe via individual creativity and the common elements of cultural policy within the diversity of expressions.
The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) is an independent organisation established on the basis of the fundamental international copyright principles embodied in the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions.
Its purpose is to facilitate, on an international basis, the collective management of reproduction and other rights relevant to copyrighted works through the co-operation of national Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs). Collective or centralised rights management is preferable where individual exercise of rights is impractical.
IFRRO, through its members, supports creators and publishers alike and provides internationally a common platform for them to foster the establishment of appropriate legal frameworks for the protection and use of their works.
The Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) or Société des Auteurs Audiovisuels represents the interests of the collective management societies and their audiovisual authors’ members at the European level. It currently represents over 100,000 film and television screenwriters and directors. This number is increasing daily and it is anticipated that SAA will soon represent all European authors working in film and television.
SAA’s main objectives are the following:
- To defend and strengthen the economic and moral rights of audiovisual authors (screenwriters and directors);
- To secure fair remuneration for audiovisual authors for every use of their works;
- To develop, promote and facilitate the management of rights by member societies.