Almodóvar blasts SGAE affair

The renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has spoken out for the first time about the SGAE case, involving the arrest of leaders of the copyright management group on charges of misappropriating millions of euros.

The director of All About My Mother , who is a member of SGAE, and his brother Agustín, a film producer who planned to join soon, confessed that they were deeply shocked to learn that the Civil Guard had raided the group's headquarters in Madrid on July 1 and arrested six managers, including the long-running chairman of the board, Eduardo "Teddy" Bautista, who was about to confirm his leadership of an organization that is as powerful as it is controversial.

The suspects were charged with embezzlement, fraud and gross misadministration over a racket that allegedly diverted large sums (possibly in the order of millions of euros) from SGAE to private firms controlled by executives from the collection agency. The fraud, which is being investigated by the Anticorruption Attorney's Office, allegedly went on between 2003 and 2007.

"We got increasingly agitated as time went by and nobody gave any explanations"

"We felt astonishment. After all, it's an organization that we belong to, and we got increasingly agitated as time went by and nobody offered any explanations," said the brothers.

Just when they were feeling angry and surprised at the lack of action by the 10,000 members of SGAE, the Almodóvars got a call from filmmaker Achero Mañas, who suggested drawing up a manifesto.

"We talked to him, and even though we didn't have a close relationship with Mañas before that, we agreed that the general silence was not good for anyone, and that it might even suggest a certain feeling of guilt. So that is why we endorsed a manifesto that other members of very different backgrounds signed as well."

Ever since then, the Almodóvar brothers have been following events very closely.

"We met with [filmmaker] Imanol Uribe, who is a member of SGAE's audiovisual branch, like me. We told him we were unhappy about the way the whole thing had been handled, and he was asked for a series of initiatives, like an in-depth investigation regardless of legal timeframes," said Pedro Almodóvar.

Uribe said that the current leaders of SGAE want a new management committee made up of people who did not hold key positions before, and who would be in charge of drafting a new charter. Some of the measures to be undertaken include changing the voting system.

"We told him something that we consider of the utmost importance, although we know it would take time: what is needed is an essential change in the way people perceive our association, which they see as nothing more than a money collector, and we cannot allow that."

Almodóvar is correct in that SGAE is known primarily for collecting fees on behalf of Spanish musicians and publishers, and has been often accused of exceeding its mission by going as far as infiltrating private weddings to check whether fees had been paid for the music being played at the banquet. SGAE recently lost two court cases against individuals who refused to pay what they saw as unfair levies.

Last year, SGAE collected more than 365 million euros, a 7.7-percent rise from 2009.

In Almodóvar's opinion, SGAE needs to adapt to the times, "which are not those of 10 years ago; it's not an easy task, and it involves a change of attitude, dropping the haughtiness and the 'well, since the law allows it' viewpoint."

Essentially, says Almodóvar, in Spain "intellectual property rights are the object of many attacks - there is great contempt for these rights, and it's partly due to SGAE's bad image."