The FESAAL Congress in Mexico addressed the challenges faced by audiovisual authors in Latin America

On November 5, Mexico City hosted the annual Congress of the Federación de Sociedades de Autores Audiovisuales Latinoamericanos (FESAAL), with the Mexican Society of Directors and Audiovisual Work Creators (SOMEDIRE) and the General Society of Writers of Mexico (SOGEM) serving as hosts. SOMEDIRE, one of the oldest Latin American organizations founded in 1963, is chaired by director Juan Antonio de la Riva, while SOGEM is presided over by writer and playwright Gerardo Luna Islas.

The annual assembly took place amidst significant transformations within FESAAL, driven by a statutory reform positioning audiovisual authors—screenwriters and directors—at the forefront of leadership and future planning under the framework of the Audiovisual Authors International Confederation (AVACI). Participants viewed the Congress as a crucial moment to strengthen the defense of audiovisual authors’ rights globally.

The presidency of the annual Congress was held by screenwriter and playwright Miguel Ángel Diani (ARGENTORES), who also opened the event. From the outset, the author, a member of the FESAAL Executive Council, emphasized “the need in 2025 to focus assistance on countries such as Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru, aiming for all Latin American filmmakers to have a salary and a solid organization to advocate for them.”

Manuel Rodríguez Ajenjo, the newly appointed president of SOGEM—the host organization—took the floor next. He highlighted “operational challenges stemming from SOGEM’s reliance on author’s rights royalties instead of membership fees, which creates confusion, making people think of SOGEM as a union, and the problem that author’s don’t count with social security in Mexican territory because legislation restricts the freedom to have it”. Rodríguez Ajenjo also discussed “the situation of Mexican audiovisual authors regarding one-time payments for commissioned works” and urged other societies to “join forces against the transfer of rights.”

Meanwhile, José Antonio Medina Hernández, Vice President of SOMEDIRE, another host organization, stated that “the recognition and remuneration of author’s rights is not a gift: it is an achievement,” thus formally inaugurating the FESAAL Congress.

Medina Hernández also expressed concern that in Mexico, “our legislation does not give importance to author’s rights. There is no rate applied to cinemas, and it is not mandated by law that author’s rights payment be obligatory for users. The current administration has made progress, with the support of our legal team, on the following agreements: with Teleazteca, after an 11-year litigation; with Televisa, which has made payments and continues negotiations with DGK, DAC, and societies in Brazil. We are initiating negotiation processes with Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, and Mercado Libre. The parties have been notified, and we are engaging with their legal representatives. Finalizing these agreements will strengthen SOMEDIRE economically and in its presence as a collective management society.”

Current Status

Throughout the day, participants aligned with the statement made by Daniella Castagno, President of ATN, who recalled the federation’s founding moment: “Six years ago in Havana, a group of directors and screenwriters gathered to create FESAAL. AGADU, ATN, ARGENTORES, DAC, DASC, REDES, DBCA, GEDAR, SOMEDIRE, and SOGEM founded a federation of Latin American authors’ societies,” marking “the culmination of long-standing efforts and the desire to continue supporting each other, fostering the creation of more management societies in countries without them, and promoting fair remuneration and efficient distribution of author’s rights royalties.”
Representatives from Argentine organizations reiterated their concerns, first voiced in Chile, about “the alarming situation of audiovisual production in Argentina since Javier Milei’s inauguration,” which “has significantly worsened.”

Inés de Oliveira Cézar, Director and General Pro-Secretary of DAC, stated: “We never thought audiovisuals and culture could suffer an attack of such proportions. What the government calls a ‘cultural battle’ is the destruction of culture and audiovisuals (…). I want to share my concern about government attempts to deregulate our societies. We believe transparency in our organizations will minimize this risk. Thank you for the support letters sent when this government took office, helping to stop the changes aimed at deregulating management societies.”

In line with the Argentine representatives’ concerns, director Ricardo Aguilar (EDAP) pointed out “threats against Panama’s seven management entities. The threat remains for next year. Panama has just undergone an electoral process, resulting in a pro-business government favoring such interests. The new National Author’s Rights Directorate, due to internal organizational issues, has suspended inspections requested by the collective management society. This has caused delays in licensing processes previously handled by EDAP.”
Concerns were also raised about new technological tools like AI. Author’s rights law expert Adriana Saldarriaga (DASC) highlighted that in Colombia, alongside debates occurring in other countries, a bill was introduced “mixing legislation aimed at regulating AI with mandatory collective management (which doesn’t exist in Colombia). We advocate for this regulation, as it facilitates negotiations with users. The constitutional court previously deemed it unnecessary. However, given the rapid technological changes, mandatory management might become essential.”

She emphasized that “it’s no easy task,” noting that “when an author transfers a right, they do so with the understanding of existing technological means. My view is that regulating AI is complex because technology evolves faster than the law. This is another challenge we face moving forward.”

Author’s rights law specialist Luis Mangiavillano (DAC) added that AI is an ever-growing reality, identifying “token” as the key term—referring to “what AI charges us every time we, for instance, ask ChatGPT a question. AI feeds on data, becoming what it is not because of its origins but due to what it consumes. Some of that data is private property (like works). They’ve taken this data to fuel AI. What happens when AI creates works competing with human intelligence? This is where CISAC stated, ‘these works are derivative of previous ones and should therefore pay remuneration to compensate.’”

Finally, gender inequality in the industry was brought up again. Director Camila Loboguerrero (DASC) noted that “in Colombia, there are many women directing. However, when you look closely, they are always second units and never credited. There is a tendency to overshadow and disregard women.”