EVA is pleased to announce that three new observers will join its ranks, expanding the network of Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) for visual arts in Europe and beyond. The new observers will be able to take part in EVA’s activities, as agreed by the members during the last General Assemblies and in accordance with the statutes of the association.
The three new CMOs, which further increase geographical diversity within the EVA membership base, are OFA – The Organization of Photographic Authors in Montenegro, ARS – The Artists Rights Society from the United States, and ASCRL – The American Society for Collective Rights Licensing also from the United States.
The societies are all managing visual artists’ rights, although OFA is mainly involved with the rights of photographers.
Marko Vučinić, OFA Executive Director, commented: “The observer status in EVA is extremely important to us because EVA can provide us with moral and professional support, which is very important to us, taking care that the area of copyright is not at an enviable level in Montenegro and that there is great resistance and obstruction of users to the introduction and payment of mandatory fees.”
Janet Hicks, Vice President and Director of Licensing at ARS, stated that “As a CMO facilitating copyright permissions for US artists in Europe as well as representing the rights of European visual artists in the US, ARS is proud to be an observer of EVA. ARS is committed to expanding artists’ rights in the US through legislation, extended collective licensing, and resale rights, and it’s vital for us to understand how our European colleagues are confronting these issues in their own territories.”
James Silverberg, CEO of the American Society for Collective Rights Licensing, noted “ASCRL is the largest not-for-profit collecting society for visual materials in the United States and is an Associate RRO and provisional member of CISAC. Beginning in 2022 ASCRL began accelerating its role in the establishment of legislatively authorized collective licensing systems for visual material in the United States, in the AI, platform news media, and resale rights, context, and in the areas of internal government, business, private social media, and educational contexts. As an EVA Observer, ASCRL hopes to benefit from the wisdom and greater historical experience of the EVA community with the implementation and operation of these and similar collective licensing systems.”