September of year 2020 saw the Belgrade establishment of the Association of Authors – Organization of Artists of Fine Arts as a voluntary, non-governmental and non-profit association, for the purpose of affirmation of authors and copyright holders of copyrighted fine arts and applied arts works, with the exception of photography works, from the following fields: drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic arts and graphic design.
The idea is that compensation for the authors should be realized primarily through collective exercise of property copyrights from:
- rebroadcasting of works;
- importers, i.e., technical device and empty sound, picture and text recording medium traders;
- from legal and natural entities providing photocopy, i.e., multiplication services for a fee, using similar techniques; and
- resale of works.
Naturally, the realized compensation would be forwarded to the copyright holders by the Association.
At the beginning of November 2022, the Association submitted a request to the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia for the issuance of license for performing the activity of collective exercise of rights.
As legal representatives of the Association, we have received great news from the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia. In fact, the Association received a permit and thus became the eighth organization for the collective exercise of copyright and related rights in the Republic of Serbia.
Also, since its founding, the Association has been organizing a complete author’s service for all its members, which includes legal assistance, information on hot topics, organization of seminars and exhibitions, publishing ventures and providing social assistance to its members in case of financial distress.
Currently, the Association has almost four hundred members in its ranks, among whom are the most important authors and creators in their fields, not only in Serbia but also in the region, as well as world-renowned authors. Most of the members of the Association have graduated from art faculties, many have master’s and doctor’s degrees, some of them are also professors at the faculties of fine and applied arts, some are also academics and some are just students with a fantastic future ahead of them.
Such a fantastic future is also expected for the Association!