Latest News2008-10-29 ISP's must take responsibility for cultural content The industry debates initiated by the Government to discuss filesharing and copyrights started in June. Participants include representatives of creators, Internet providers and rights holders such as film companies and record labels. The purpose of the debates has been to "promote the legal dissemination of copyrighted material via the Internet", but thus far, little headway has been made. The rise of the Internet has led to the rapid, user-generated dissemination of every conceivable expression of culture that can be saved digitally. This development has created the background for the industry debates. Music dissemination has by far undergone the most dramatic change and there is every indication that technological development will continue to rapidly create new conditions. It will soon be possible to carry every single piece of music produced in the 1900s on a memory stick - and wirelessly send copies to a friend during coffee breaks. For everyone who works with the creation of text, images, film and music, this development offers a fantastic opportunity to quickly and easily send works to people across the world. In addition, the Internet is an important tool in the artistic process. However, this development has also made it more difficult for creators to receive compensation for their work. Copyright principles and applicable legislation are bypassed on a daily basis when text, sound and image files are illicitly made available to every computer connected to the Internet. If the current trend continues, there is a risk that it will end in a deeply unfortunate paradox, that the opportunities to disseminate and exchange words, images and sound will lead to a steady decrease in the production of professional art and culture. Those who make money on Internet traffic, for example Sweden's largest Internet providers, Telia, ComHem and Bredbandsbolaget, have everything to gain. Everyone else - consumers and creators - have everything to lose since the economic base supporting the diversity and quality of culture will disappear. The industry debates serve a particularly important function in that they present an opportunity to find new methods for the legal dissemination of cultural works. The debates started in June, but the results have been meagre despite the steady flow of suggestions for how the industry could move toward positive solutions. Our organisations, which together represent the majority of professional authors and artists in Sweden, share a common view on the development of legal filesharing. We are in agreement that a simple focus on controls, which can be perceived as an intrusion of privacy, is not a sustainable solution for the challenges the development presents.
Instead, we advocate the creation of licensing models that efficiently solve the issue of rights clearance between copyright holders, Internet providers and consumers. This combines the best of two worlds, the freedom of the Internet and the principles of the copyright laws, and will allow creators to receive compensation for their work. STIM, the Swedish Performing Rights Society, has taken the initiative to create a licensing model for its groups of right holders. The model is has possibilities, but it is too early to determine if it works well or if it is applicable to other copyright situations or areas of practice. Legislature must continue to clearly stipulate what is/is not permitted in order to facilitate the process of licensing filesharing. Sweden needs to offer the same effective means of tackling systematic breaches of the copyright law as the rest of the EU. But it is neither technologically nor morally sustainable to only rely on sanctions for those who today share files illegally. We want the consumer to be able to easily access art and music while doing what is right. We have to co-operate with Internet providers and the media companies that hold many of the rights to our members' works - e.g. film companies and record labels - to create a solution. However, during the industry debates over the past six months, the Internet providers, who earn large sums of money on a daily basis from the illegal distribution of our members' works, have come with a long list of objections that in effect allow them to shirk their responsibility for ensuring the market functions properly. It is particularly important that Internet providers participate in measures against the illegal filesharing that still occurs despite the fact that Internet users are offered the option to pay for their filesharing. We can now present new statistics about the general public’s opinion on these issues. They indicate that there is strong support for the type of licensing model that STIM has proposed. Synovate has conducted a public opinion survey on online music on behalf of STIM. The survey shows that three out of four respondents believe that music creators should receive compensation when their music is disseminated online. The results would most likely be similar in other cultural sectors. Survey participants were also given the opportunity to respond to the following statement: "A large amount of music is disseminated illegally over the Internet and the music creator is not reimbursed when his or her music is used. There is now a proposal that Internet providers, such as Telia or ComHem, should offer a service that on behalf of the customer reimburses the music creators and other right holders in proportion to how much their music is disseminated. The proposal does not entail a change to current legislation, but rather that Internet providers offer their customers the opportunity to purchase an expanded service." A clear majority of 69 per cent answered that they thought the proposal was either very good (47 per cent) or reasonably good (22 per cent). The new technology creates unique possibilities for music creators, authors and image, film and scene artists to quickly and easily disseminate and exchange their works. The fact that the number of artistic works on computers around the world multiplies every year shows that activity of creation is incredibly important. We want to adapt to the conditions of the new technology while taking responsibility for our actions. Now it is time for the Internet providers, media companies and politicians to take their responsibility. Their actions can be a deciding factor in whether the Internet of the future becomes a carrier of or a threat to culture.
Administration of Literary Rights in Sweden (Administration av Litterära Rättigheter i Sverige, ALIS)
Chairman Magnus Lindström
Visual Arts Copyright Society in Sweden (Bildkonst Upphovsrätt i Sverige, BUS)
Chairman C-Stefan Ahlenius Society of Swedish Composers (Föreningen Svenska Tonsättare)
Chairman Sten Melin The Artists Organisation (Konstnärernas Riksorganisation)
Chairman Karin Willén Independent Filmmakers Association (Oberoende Filmares Förbund)
Chairman Suzanne Nilsson Swedish Artists and Musicians Interest Organisation (Svenska Artisters och Musikers Intresseorganisation, SAMI)
President Stefan Lagrell Association of Swedish Professional Photographers (Svenska Fotografers förbund)
Chairman Åke Sandström Swedish Society of Popular Music Composers (Svenska Kompositörer Av Populärmusik)
Chairman Alfons Karabuda Swedish Federation of Musicians
Chairman Jan Granvik The Swedish Association of Stage and Screen Directors (Svenska Regissörsföreningen)
Chairman Mathias Lafolie The Association of Swedish Illustrators and Graphic Designers (Svenska Tecknare)
Chairman Lennart Eng The Swedish Performing Rights Society (Svenska Tonsättares Internationella Musikbyrå, STIM)
Chairman Gunnar Petri The Swedish Playwrights Union (Sveriges Dramatikerförbund)
Chairman Rolf Börjlind The Swedish Writers' Union
Chairman Mats Söderlund The Swedish Craftsmen and Designers' Organisation (Sveriges Konsthantverkare och Industriformgivare)
Chairman Gunilla Kihlgren Svartström The Swedish Directors' Association (Sveriges Regissörer)
Chairman Simo Jääro The Swedish Federation of Professional Musicians (Sveriges Yrkesmusikerförbund, SYMF)
Chairman Bo Olsson Swedish Union for Theatre, Artists and Media (Teaterförbundet)
Chairman Anna Carlson
All WALTIC press releases can be found in English at www.waltic.com.
Press Release 2007-10-11 THE SWEDISH WRITERS' UNION WELCOMES DORIS LESSING TO WALTIC "Doris Lessing was a brilliant choice as the 2007 Nobel Laureate for Literature. Literature is a vital force in society. Human beings, quite simply, need stories to be able to understand ourselves and the world in which we live. The choice of a woman author was particularly pleasing", says Mats Söderlund, chairman of The Swedish Writers' Union. At WALTIC, the international congress to be hosted by the Swedish Writers' Union in 2008, half the speakers will be women. Today, Doris Lessing became the eleventh woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The other ninety-three literature laureates have been men. Mats Söderlund stated: "I am delighted that the Swedish Academy has chosen an author who is both a writer of great literature and genuinely committed to social change. We invited her to address the WALTIC congress over a year ago, but owing to her age she declined the invitation. She has a standing invitation as an honorary guest, and we have not given up hope that she will be one of the thousand authors to attend WALTIC - the Value of Words next summer. www.waltic.com Contact: Mats Söderlund, +46 (0)70-228 92 25, ms@sff.info
Press Release 2007-09-28 ONE THOUSAND WRITERS IN STOCKHOLM On the 29th of June 2008, the Swedish Writers’ Union will inaugurate WALTIC - The Value of Words, an international congress. During four days full of different activities, over a thousand writers and literary translators from all over the world will meet in Stockholm. WALTIC is the first literary congress ever of its kind and the first to take account of gender equality amongst the invited speakers. WHAT’S ON AT WALTIC? WORLD-FAMOUS AUTHORS Our keynote speakers will include three world-famous authors and three of the world’s most trendsetting academic writers. Their names will be made public on 15 November. A FULL PROGRAM The plenary program is the cornerstone of WALTIC and we have invited over 60 of the world’s most renowned writers and literary translators to speak as part of the plenary program. Four of them will be announced at a press conference on the 28th of September at the Goteborg Book Fair. We will also have a full scale program with three large parallel sessions, including 90 seminars, round table discussions, lectures and workshops and running from morning to evening. The three main topics will be Intercultural Dialogue, Literacy and Digitalization. UNIQUE KNOWLEDGE In the smaller halls at the City Conference Centre, scholars, writers and experts from all over the world will share their experience in our Best Practise- program. The focus of this part of the program will be on issues concerning literacy, copyright and freedom of speech. WALTIC MOVES BEYOND ESTABLISHED BOUNDARIES WALTIC will present a whole new unique concept “Call for stories". Under this heading of the program the narrative is central, giving opportunities for academics, as well as writers and literary translators from all over the world to talk about their experience and their work. STOCKHOLM WILL BE FLOODED WITH WRITERS Everyone in Stockholm will be made aware of our public program. At least one hundred internationally renowned writers will take part in events at Kulturhuset, at the International Library and at a range of other locations. It will be a literary feast. A MEDIA EVENT WALTIC will literally move boundaries and create opinion and change. WALTIC will certainly be a huge media event.
Contact: Mats Soderlund, chairman of WALTIC and SFF, The Swedish Writers’ Union
E-mail ms@s ff.in fo Mobile : +46 (0) 70 228 92 25
Press Release 2007-04-22 (SFF) Swedish Writers’Union
Principal organization for Sweden’s authors and literary translators Sweden Marginalized as a Civilized Nation Sweden is a country that equips the world with weapons. Shouldn’t
we be providing it with literature? This is the question the Swedish
Writers’ Union (SFF) puts to the government. At its annual meeting
over the weekend (21-22 April 2007) the union expressed a sharp
protest against the government decision to abolish support for
translation in the amount of 2 million Swedish crowns [ca $286,000], an amount that enabled many writers to have their works translated
into other languages. SFF warns: Sweden is being m arginalized as
a civilized nation (see below for the full declaration.) What promises to be the country’s largest cultural event was also
presented at the annual meeting. SFF is also serving as the organizer for WALTIC: Writers and Literary Translators International Congress. The congress’s aim is to bring together more than 1000 participants in Stockholm’s Folkets hus next summer in order to discuss freedom of expression, digitalization of the written word, challenges to copyright law and how a billion people in the world who cann ot read are to receive education and access to literature. The poet Mats Söderlund was re-elected as chair of SFF. For more information contact: Mats Söderlund, Chair, Swedish
Writers’ Union
Telephone: +46 70-228 9225
e-mail: ms@sff.info
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Sweden Marginalized as Civilized Nation The Swedish Writers’ Union challenges the government to restore and improve support for the translation of Swedish literature. The Swedish Institute shall not use Swedish literature to showcase
Sweden. It is Sweden in its capacity as a civilized country that shall display its literature and its authors. Throughout the entire world there are small presses that have
specialized in the publication of Swedish literature. Without translation support from Sweden this activity will die out. Sweden equips the world with weapons. Why not provide the world
with literature? Declaration of the Swedish Writers’ Union (SFF) at its annual meeting,
21 April 2007 (English translation, Rika Lesser)
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