JOIN AND SUPPORT THE FIGHT FOR AUTHORS' RIGHTS IN SLOVAKIA

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Contract for the Representation of Property Copyrights

Collective Notification of Audiovisual Works

For more than ten years, the sound masters have been trying to achieve recognition of the copyright quality of their work in Slovakia. They joined the Association of Sound Masters-Authors (AMZA) and following the example of other European countries (Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Poland, Greece and other countries - see the table of countries recognizing selected film professions) which in the last 20 years have recognized the value of artistic creation of sound masters.

The original negative decision of the Minister of Culture from 2015 was annulled in March 2022 due to its illegality by the Regional Court in Bratislava (judgment dated March 23, 2022, file no. 2S/187/2021) and thus accepted the claim of the sound masters following the judgment (from on June 30, 2021, reference number 2Sžk/3/2019). The Supreme Court also defended the rights of sound masters stating that their work must be professionally assessed to see if it meets the requirements for copyrighted works.

After the ruling of the Regional Court in Bratislava, representatives of other film professions, which in Slovakia are not as recognized as authors – directors of photography, scenographers/film architects, costume designers and film editors, were also approached. Members of the European Parliament from the CULT Committee also decided to deal with the situation of non-recognition of these professions as authors because it creates differences in the evaluation of artistic creation between individual EU states.

At a meeting in Bratislava on April 21, 2022, under the auspices of the Member of the European Parliament Mr. Peter Pollák, the representatives of the AMZA sound masters offered to these film professions to fundamentally expand the AMZA organization and modify the name and statutes of the association so that it could represent all the neglected film professions. It was agreed that AMZA would change its name to the Association of Film and Audio Authors (ZAFA) and made a call to all Slovak directors of photography, film cutters/editors, costume designers, set designers/film architects and also sound masters to support the establishment of this organization. New ZAFA.sk statutes were drawn up which guarantee every profession a representative in the management of the organization and equal treatment and also prepared a document for individual creators to support ZAFA's request for authorization to exercise collective copyright management. The basic mission of ZAFA is:

a) collective protection and collective application of copyrights in accordance with the Copyright Act of authors of protected objects of rights (after the relevant authorization has been granted by the Ministry of Culture of Slovak Republic),

b) protection and creation of conditions for satisfying the interests and needs of authors, their heirs or other rights holders,

c) assisting the development of audio and audio-visual production in the Slovak Republic.

ZAFA primarily brings together authors involved in audio (A) and audiovisual creation (AV) from the following artistic professions:

I) directors of photography,

II) costume designers,

III) film editors/cutters,

IV) film architects/set designers,

V) masters of sound, creating both in the field of audiovisual and auditory creation,

VI) other creative artists, participating in a special way in the creation of works in audiovisual and audio creation.

At the next meeting on July 1, 2022, it was agreed that the Association of Slovak Directors of photography will call on its members to support ZAFA's request for the recognition of these professions as copyright and also to sign the Declaration of representatives of the film professions on the recognition of their copyright in Slovakia. Currently, proceedings are underway at the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, which assesses the merits of the complaint of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic against the judgment of the Regional Court in Bratislava. The registration process of the new statutes at the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic is also being completed and the launch of new websites of the organization is also being prepared after registering the new name of the organization – www.zafa.sk

We invite all creators from the field – directors of photography, film editors/cutters, costume designers, set designers/film architects and sound masters to support ZAFA's request for authorization and send their support in the attached sample as soon as possible to the address of the lawyer: JUDr. Jana Mikušová, Seberíniho 1, 821 03 Bratislava which represents this organization in administrative proceedings before the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic.

Juraj Baláž, sound master

František Žitný, sound master

Katarína Štrbová Bieliková, costume designer

Lukáš Terén, director of photography

Peter Obornik, director of photography

Andrej Barla, director of photography

Jessica Horváthová, director and director of photography