Musician seeks support to solve serious problems with SGAE

Santiago Auserón, the former frontman of Spanish band Radio Futura, is trying to find support from fellow musicians to address the situation of SGAE, the copyright-management organization that was plunged into chaos when police raided the headquarters and arrested nine of its leaders on embezzlement charges.

Auserón says that musicians "have been harmed by the current crisis at SGAE on various fronts: by a possible misappropriation of funds on a large scale, by management that focused on investments that were alien to the organization's goals, and by the exercise of its political influence to get highly debatable legislation passed in connection with the 'digital canon'."

Auserón was referring to the millions of euros that arrested execs are thought to have diverted to private companies; to SGAE's growing investment of its earnings in real estate; and to a controversial tax levied on all recording devices to compensate artists for private copies the owners might make of protected work.

All this "is creating a dangerous level of citizen resentment against artistic work, which is a result of the accumulated abuse by the culture and media industries," he continued. Auserón's manifesto proposes a new debate on the definition of copyright, and a restructuring of SGAE from the ground up to make it more democratic.

Spaniard to head IFPI

Meanwhile, the world-famous opera singer Plácido Domingo has been appointed the new chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the worldwide organization that represents the recording industry.

The Spaniard, whose mission now includes defending intellectual-property rights, said he will support sanctions against people who illegally download protected work. Domingo described the situation in Spain, which has the highest piracy rate in Europe, as "dramatic."