A historic first in the field of cinema royalties is taking place in our country with the licensing agreement between SEF - Federation of Cinema Work Owners, established by four professional associations representing screenwriters and directors in Turkey (BSB, SETEM, SENARİSTBİR, and SİNEBİR), and Antalya Metropolitan Municipality. With this historic step, film owners will receive royalties collected within the country for the first time.

 

Directors and screenwriters, who have only been able to collect royalties from abroad through film professional associations for some time, will now be able to receive royalties in Turkey for the first time for films screened at the 61st International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival thanks to this licensing agreement. We would like to thank Mr. Muhittin Böcek, Mayor of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, for his sensitivity towards copyrights in this process.

 

While professional associations and federations equivalent to SEF around the world collect over 650 million euros in royalties annually, the fact that our country's share of this figure is zero constitutes a major violation of rights. This situation highlights a serious contradiction in the application of copyrights, which are protected by international and national laws and guaranteed by the Constitution. Despite the legal framework, the deprivation of copyrights of cinema work owners in our country reveals the functioning of the copyright system in Turkey.