Dear colleagues,

This report on the activities of the supervisory board pertains to the period from the last general assembly held on 27 May 2019, to the general assembly held on 25 May 2020.

Introductory information: The staffing in our three-member management board and the composition of the supervisory board have remained unchanged since the elections in the previous year.

Audit: The Association’s management board is responsible for compiling the financial statements. The supervisory board is responsible for overseeing the process of financial reporting. A due audit was performed by the independent company APOGEO Audit, s.r.o., which did not find any deficiencies in OSA’s accounting for the year 2019, and the information in the annual report of the OSA management board complies with the financial statements in all respects.

Financial results: In 2019, OSA consistently (since 2013) continued in its economic growth. Total collection increased by 11.64%. Hence, in 2019 OSA once again broke historical records to achieve its best financial result ever.

Remember that since 1 January 2018, OSA has been collecting on behalf of all the collective managers in the music sector in the area of public operation. However, even after clearing of collection for other collective managers, OSA fared rather well. Our own collection amount to CZK 1,118,448,000. Public operation and broadcasting in particular increased. Revenues from mechanical rights declined again compared to the previous year, as expected. Additional information and details are available in the annual report in the chapter OSA Earning in 2019.

Member base: As at 31 December 2019, OSA contractually represented a total of 9,691 rights holders, of which 6,696 living authors, 2,852 heirs and 144 publishers. It accepted 404 new authors and 10 publishers for representation in the course of the year. As at 31 December 2019, the OSA association had 587 members, of which 418 composers, 92 lyricists, 27 publishers and 50 heirs. Since 1 January 2020, 16 new members have been accepted. In the course of 2020, 9 members died as at the date of these minutes. Detailed information is available in the chapter OSA Clients of the 2019 Annual Report.
Of those who fulfilled the conditions of members, 21 authors submitted an application this year. Of these, 15 are authors of popular music, 2 composers of classical music and 4 lyricists. One publisher has also applied for acceptance. The general assembly of OSA members held in 2020 will decide about these applications.

Supervisory board activities: The leitmotif of last year was undoubtedly the preparation and realisation of celebrations of an important anniversary - 100 years since the foundation of OSA. The centrepiece was a gala concert which took place on 9 October 2019 at the Karlín Music Theatre. The recorded concert was broadcast by Czech Television and is permanently accessible in the CT archive. On 7 January 2020, with the participation of OSA members, business partners and employees, an exhibition on 100 years of OSA was opened in the new premises of the National Museum - the society hall. The exhibition was open to the public until 28 February 2020.

As part of the same anniversary, we were also active on our website and social networks. Our aim was to inform the public about the history of OSA’s foundation and about its current format and activities. We also strove to refute the myths and untruths which circulate about OSA. These projects are still ongoing.

At this year’s general assembly, we are not presenting any fundamental changes, except for the point which amends the breakdown of billing for television broadcasting. After many long years, we managed to negotiate a fee with broadcasters for synchronisation as a separate item. For this reason, the fee for synchronisation will once again be a one-off sum and the table for TV should return to its original status of 2006, i.e. without coefficient 5.

This year, we do not expect an increase in the coefficients for concert productions in categories 3, 5 and 6, for which not enough votes were found in the professional group of lyricists even during the second vote last year. A comparison of the billing breakdown simulation for 2019 according to the new and old rules showed often smaller differences - in the order of single percent - than during the first simulation for 2018. We will continue to monitor the development of AO in these categories.

In the course of the past year, we received a notice from the Ministry of Culture on the start of implementation work on EU Directive 2019/789 (directive concerning broadcasting and broadcasting transmission) and 2019/790 (directive on copyright). The directive extends current legal regulations to include copyright on the EU single digital market. Despite controversy around articles 11 and 13, the directive passed through the approval process on 26 March 2019 and the EU member states are obliged to adopt laws to implement this directive within two years. Responsibility for a breach of copyright is factually shifted from users to content sharing services. The Ministry will be organising meetings with stakeholders within the framework of public consultations, which will also be attended by OSA.

Before the end of last year, negotiations between OSA and TV NOVA regarding settlement for the year 2016-2019 were successfully concluded. An agreement and licensing contract for the coming years were also signed, under business terms approved by the supervisory board. The lengthy dispute was thus resolved out-of-court.

There was one event which did not cause any joy. The Office for Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) imposed a fine on OSA in the case of taking account of the occupancy of hotel and spa rooms in 2008–2014. The OSA has filed an appeal against this decision. Therefore, the case is not closed and the fine is not in legal force. We have very strong arguments that OSA did not abuse its dominant position. We will continue to defend ourselves.

On Friday, 17 January 2020, a press conference was held with the participation of Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek, to announce the conclusion of a bulk licensing agreement between OSA in representation of all collective managers and the Association of Local Government (SMS) represented by JUDr. Stanislav Polčák. The SMS members will be able to purchase a bundle of licenses, based on which they will be able to organise musical productions in municipalities, with either live music or playback. We hope this friendly gesture will pacify municipalities and their mayors in relation to collectively copyright management.

Authors’ Union Coordination Committee: The KVAS platform was created in January 2020. The initiator was Prof. Vadim Petrov and OSA together with Dilia is its founder. The authors’ coordination committee is an informal association without legal subjectivity, which will meet maximally four times per year. Its members include the following organisations: Association of Music Artists and Experts – AHUV, Association of Directors, Screenwriters and Script Editors – ARAS, Writers Association – AS, Czech Film and Television Association – FITES, Writers Community – OS, PEN Club and Association of Authors and Interpreters – SAI. The first case in which it will be appropriate to proceed together is the planned amendment to the Copyright Act, which will surely feature many proposals from MPs directed against copyright holders. KVAS has already contacted the current minister of culture, who welcomes the creation of this commenting and advisory body.

State of emergency: We are observing the unfavourable developments around the spread of coronavirus in Europe with some concern. The cancellation of cultural events generates economic losses not only for performing artists but also for authors. During the planned restrictions, we must anticipate a slump in collection, especially in terms of public operation. We can only guess at the impacts, as the duration of these measures is a great unknown. Therefore, we will seek ways to help authors in financial difficulty, for instance through the social fund, advances or payments outside of standard deadlines. I hope we will know more at the time of the GA.

Conclusion: All that is left is to thank the management board and employees of OSA on behalf of the supervisory board for their extraordinary efforts and excellent yearly results. We also hope our employees overcome the “state of emergency” in good health.

The supervisory board thanks you all for your trust and wishes you all further success and plenty of inspiration.

Approved by the supervisory board on 17th March 2020.

 

Luboš Andršt
Chairman of the Supervisory Board