MUMBAI: Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) President Rick Carnes announced today that the SGA would be seeking to join with ECSA, the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance. “The sympathetic message of the creator’s plight in the digital world is not reaching the public,” said Carnes, who cited the recent, one-sided debate over anti-piracy legislation in the United States as proof that creators must speak for themselves. “One key role of this new Coalition, would be to help facilitate a direct creator-to-public dialog on both national and international levels.”
“The public has clearly heard enough from others purporting to speak on our behalf. The time has come for the world’s music creators, and eventually for all creators of artistic works, to join together in a direct dialog with the public,” said Carnes. “It is literally our only chance to have our side of the story told in a way that may resonate with those who appreciate artistic creativity.”
Speaking at the Creators Conference organized by ECSA on February 3 at the historic Theatre du Vaudeville in Brussels, Carnes addressed a group of over one hundred authors, composers, policy-makers and media as a featured panelist, and delved immediately into the issue of developing a new narrative for creators. “We have lost our voice,” he said. “We are generally great story-tellers, and we need to use those skills to let the public know the validity of our message. Every great society in history has recognized that the protection of authors’ rights is the engine of free expression. That part of the narrative is getting completely lost today, and we need to get it back.”
Fellow panelists, including German member of the European Parliament Helga Trupel and Jean Bergevin, head of the European Commission’s unit ‘Fight against Counterfeiting and Piracy’ at the DG Internal Market and Services, agreed emphatically with Carnes’ assessment. “You guys are unheard: you have to go out [and speak],” said Mr. Bergevin. “You have a very valid story to tell.”
The SGA delegation, which included SGA Foundation Chair Janie Ross Coulter, SGA board member Janis Carnes, and SGA counsel Charles J. Sanders, met with ECSA leaders including Swedish composer and ECSA Chair Alfons Karabuda to discuss the further details of establishing an international creators’ coalition. Subjects including fair market practices, and the urgent need for greater transparency in the conducting of music industry and internet business and commerce, were also discussed.