The Brazilian Ministry of Culture announced that it will qualify entities that represent professionals of the audiovisual sector, such as authors, actors, actresses and directors, for the collective management of their copyrights.
According to the Ministry of Culture, in a first stage, they will conduct a legal analysis of the entities. Afterwards, a 30-day public consultation will be held, followed by a final step for presentation of documents and other formal requirements of the qualification process. This process will be coordinated by the Department of Copyright and Intellectual Property recently created by the Ministry of Culture, which will also oversee and regulate the entities, aiming at improving the copyright protection policy.
With this measure, the reproduction of audiovisual works may imply in the payment of the respective copyright royalties through the entities authorized by the Ministry of Culture, which will make the collection on behalf of the professionals from the audiovisual sector, in case no specific adjustment is settled for direct payment between these professionals and production companies at the time of hiring.
The full press statement is available (in Portuguese) at http://www.cultura.gov.br/banner-1/-/asset_publisher/G5fqgiDe7rqz/content/audiovisual-autores-e-interpretes-terao-direitos-autorais-recolhidos/10883