Spain's Society of Authors Raided by Police

 

The offices of Spain's publishing rights collecting society was raided by the police on Friday, following allegations that the Society Of Authors & Editors (SGAE), has been misappropriating funds.

El Pais newspaper reported how nine SGAE employees were taken in for questioning, including the organisation's president Eduardo Bautista, while the homes of some of the organisations other executives were also searched.

The allegation in question relates to the Digital Society Of Authors, a division of SGAE that deals exclusively with revenue gained fro digital / online sources. It is believed that the police investigation came via complaint made more than three years ago against this branch of the Society by a group of web and IT companies. Specific allegations were made against the head of the digital division, JosŽ Luis Neri, who is accused of diverting society funds to a company called MicrogŽnesis.

Like its counterparts in other countries, SGAE has been seeking out new sources of income from within the digital sector, and has attracted criticism from digital firms by imposing the recordable media levy that compensates for private copying across to digital devices. If any fraudulent dealings are uncovered it may cause problems in their attempts to gain political support for more enforceable digital rights.

SGAE released a statement over the weekend saying it was cooperating with the investigation, and that it believed its executives to be innocent of all accusations. It added that the organisation had not officially been given a reason for the Madrid police's raid of its offices.