FNA

Usage in credits

Since its creation in 1958, the FNA is mainly financed by the paying public domain (Dominio Público Pagante - DPP), a tax that must be paid for the use of the work of a national or foreign author who has died at least 70 years ago.

The creators receive the royalties during life; From his death and for the seven subsequent decades, his heirs hold the right. Once that period expires, the work enters the public domain.

Although it is not necessary to require any authorization for the use of a paying public domain work, it is an exclusive requirement to pay the tax for said use to the FNA.

The use of a work encompasses its edition, reproduction, representation, execution, translation and adaptation.

On the agency's own website, the issue is detailed with the following examples:

• A radio station that broadcasts “El día que me quieras”, by Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera must pay the tax, independently of the fact that it is the original song or a version.
• The reproduction of a movie like Frozen, from Disney, must also pay because its story is the adaptation of The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Andersen.

In order to internationally capture all relevant income from the use of works, it manages, FNA registers sometime itself as the author of the work at SADAIC and though appears with this quality within CISAC records. The practice is nevertheless not systematic because both FNA and SADAIC are not found of collecting revenues from works that are rarely used.

Not mentioning FNA in credits is bothering because versions of works that existed before 1958, usually don't fall into the scope of the Argentinian law outside Argentina. Nevertheless, some of the originals have been registered anew by FNA at SDAIC and versions (mainly new arrangements) have to request licences (both mechanical licence and synchronization licence) to legally release it. Obviously, restoring an historic arrangement (e.g.: a bolero version of an original tango that has been published before 1958), isn't fully covered by the copyright that belong to FNA. Interpreting the criterion that recognize copyrights is complex because it depends on when and where the copyright was registered and where the derived work is reused. So, FNA is to be credited if and only it appears as an author at SADAIC or CiSAC.

Mentioning a legal entity as an author is both unsightly and confusing in credits. So a trade-off consists at crediting it, when necessary, as a right society whose deceased authors become automatically direct members seventy years after they died. This avoids cumulating all the ISWC that may exist for a work, when FNA is an Interested Party in one or two only.