As Cineuropa continues its European Networks series exploring the organisations shaping Europe’s audiovisual ecosystem, we turn our focus to the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA), which represents collective management organisations (CMOs) for screenwriters and directors across Europe. Founded in 2010, the Brussels-based association has steadily expanded its remit and visibility in the city, positioning collective rights management as a central pillar of the audiovisual value chain at a time of accelerating platformisation, regulatory fragmentation and technological disruption.

The SAA was established by nine founding members and today counts 33 CMOs in 25 countries. These bodies represent audiovisual authors — primarily screenwriters and directors — and negotiate, license and manage their rights vis-à-vis broadcasters, retransmission operators, streaming platforms and online services. As Cécile Despringre, secretary general of the SAA, explains, CMOs are often misunderstood in the audiovisual sector, despite their long-standing role in Europe.

“When we started, those CMOs barely had a voice in Brussels,” she recalls. “CMOs were mainly seen as a musicians’ thing, and we had to raise the profile of them and the role they play in the audiovisual sector.”

A key challenge has been the asymmetry between European traditions and US industry practices. While collective management of authors’ rights has deep historical roots in Europe — with some organisations dating back to the 18th century — it does not operate in the same way in the US audiovisual sector, where screenwriters and directors rely primarily on collective bargaining agreements. This divergence, combined with the dominance of US-based companies in the European market, has complicated dialogue and enforcement.

“So, our role has always been to position the CMOs as an essential element in the audiovisual ecosystem,” Despringre says. “We represent and defend screenwriters and directors; we ensure they get royalties when their works are exhibited.”

At the same time, the SAA operates in a highly fragmented legal environment. Royalties and remuneration mechanisms vary widely depending on national legislation or voluntary agreements, leading to uneven outcomes for authors across Europe. Addressing this lack of harmonisation is a central concern for the association.

Despite its broad European footprint, the SAA works with a lean structure. The secretariat consists of four staff members, supported by trainees and guided by a governance framework that includes a general assembly, a board of directors and a president. A distinctive feature is the board of patrons, comprising around 50 professional screenwriters and directors from across Europe, who ensure that policy advocacy remains grounded in authors’ lived realities.

“They help us to be very much connected to the real concerns and challenges of screenwriters and directors,” Despringre notes, explaining that their input is translated into concrete policy action addressed to European institutions and sector stakeholders.

Engagement with EU policymaking lies at the heart of the SAA’s activities. The association works closely with the European Commission, the European Parliament and member states, developing common positions with its members before intervening in legislative and regulatory debates. Beyond audiovisual policy and authors’ rights, this also extends to cultural diversity and trade-related discussions.

“What policymakers like is that our association can offer solutions to the problem they have identified or are facing,” Despringre observes, underlining the SAA’s role not only as an advocate, but also as a source of expertise and legislative input.

In recent years, however, the policy agenda has been profoundly reshaped by technological change. While the SAA has spent years grappling with unresolved issues around streaming — notably the lack of royalty payments to screenwriters and directors in many territories — the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced a new layer of complexity.

“AI is dramatically transforming the audiovisual sector,” Despringre says, noting that they first worked on the issue through the lens of copyright. European legislation allows text and data mining exceptions for AI training, enabling companies to scrape vast amounts of content. The SAA has challenged the scope of this exception.

“We want the use of creative works to be authorised and remunerated, and we also ask for transparency in the usage of works,” she stresses. According to Despringre, tech giants have been reluctant to engage, relying instead on legislative loopholes and maintaining opacity around their practices.

The association has been involved in discussions around the AI Act for nearly three years and is now closely following its implementation, including the development of codes of practice. One recent key battlefront concerns the labelling of AI-generated content. “We fully support maximum transparency in the labelling of AI content,” Despringre insists, warning against attempts to dilute these obligations.

At the same time, the SAA’s advocacy relies heavily on independent data and research. The European Audiovisual Observatory remains its primary reference for market analysis, while academic studies — particularly on copyright — help fill gaps where institutional data are lacking. A notable recent achievement was persuading WIPO to launch a global study mapping audiovisual authors’ rights and remuneration mechanisms, expected to be delivered within a year.

Collaboration is another cornerstone of the SAA’s approach. The association regularly works with other authors’ organisations, producers, distributors, sales agents and public bodies, often issuing joint position papers on shared challenges such as the revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) or broader debates under the Agora EU framework. At the same time, the SAA remains cautious about alliances dominated by US-based corporate interests, prioritising genuinely European perspectives in policy discussions.

Looking ahead, Despringre identifies 2026 as a pivotal year, with multiple legislative reviews on the horizon, including the AVMSD and key copyright directives. AI, she adds, will remain a long-term priority under what the SAA defines as “the art of AI”: authorisation, remuneration and transparency.

In a shifting regulatory and technological environment, the SAA’s mission remains firmly anchored in defending authors’ rights and cultural diversity. As Despringre puts it, collective rights management is not a legacy structure, but a necessary counterweight in an increasingly concentrated and globalised audiovisual market — one that continues to shape how European stories are created, exploited and valued.