ECA President Jorge Bosso wrote the following letter to the Czech Television concerning their refusal to renew the agreement with the performers' union Herecká Asociace:
Mr Jiri Janacek
General Manager
Ceská Televize, Kavci Hory
Praha 140 00
Czech Republic
Madrid, August 2004
Dear Sir:
I am writing on behalf of the Federación de Actores del Estado Español, which has recently become the Artists’ (Performers) Federation, and is an active member of both the International Federation of Actors (FIA) and of Euro FIA, the regional group of performers’ unions. I am also writing as President for the past six years of the European Council of Artists, (ECA), an organization which represents multidisciplinary artists’ organizations of 25 European countries, of which your country is one.
We have received information from Herecká Asociace through our FIA connections about the refusal of Czech Television, which you represent, to renew a collective agreement that includes the payment of fair repeat fees to the performers. We cannot understand your reasons, especially in a country which so proudly has recently joined the European Union. Furthermore, we find unacceptable your threat of blacklisting the actors who refuse to sign a contract which does not include repeat fee remuneration.
We in Spain are delighted that your country has joined the EU since there are already strong links between performers and artists of both our countries. Nonetheless, we are also proud that our Intellectual Property Law is one of the most advanced in Europe in recognising audiovisual rights for performers. Naturally we view with great distress the decision by any European Union country to remove rights such as those that are already recognised for Czech performers. It is not only extremely damaging to your performers but also to all EU artists as it introduces the risk of unbalancing the issue of rights for artists in a united Europe which already has sufficient differences to deal with.
We sincerely hope that upon receiving this letter you have already shown your willingness to review the decision and start negotiations with Herecka Asociacie for a new collective agreement that would include the remuneration of repeat fees for actors.
Please be aware that otherwise we in Spain will be ready to start a campaign to boycott any work with Czech Television and would use our own links with producers and television channels in Spain to stop any collaboration with Ceská Televize.
I would also refer this matter to the members of the European Council of Artists so they might decide on actions to be taken in their respective countries in support of the Czech performers’ demands.
Lastly, I will not hesitate to send this claim on behalf of artists’ rights in the Czech Republic to both the European Parliament, currently presided over by a Spaniard with whom we have strong connections, and the European Commission.
Sincerely yours,
Jorge Bosso
General Secretary, UNION DE ACTORES DE MADRID
General Secretary, FEDERACION DE ARTISTAS DEL ESTADO ESPAÑOL
President, EUROPEAN COUNCIL OF ARTISTS - ECA-