A group of more than 3,500 writers, designers, screenwriters, translators or photographers, including Joann Sfar, Pierre Lemaitre, Marc Levy or Alice Zeniter, called on Thursday the State to give authors and authors "fairer conditions" and worthy ”.
Their tribune published on the site of the World comes while the Minister of Culture, Franck Riester must present Tuesday his proposals for the Racine report. This report, produced by the former president of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) Bruno Racine and submitted to the government at the end of January, makes 23 recommendations aimed at improving the economic and social situation of artist-authors: writers, photographers, composers and composers, screenwriters, painters, designers, plastic artists, sculptors and sculptors, videographers…
"We call for state intervention"
“If the measures recommended (by the Racine report) are applied, artist-authors will finally cease to be the eternal variable of adjustment of the creative industries. The creators will find their rightful place, ”affirm the signatories of the tribune. "We appeal to the intervention of the state, to give the creators of this country fairer and more dignified conditions", they insist.
Editors are more circumspect about the conclusions to be drawn from the Racine report. The National Publishing Union (SNE), which brings together more than 700 publishers, called for an impact study before any decision was made.
The SNE particularly strongly opposes the request of the authors to collect systematically at least 10% of the price of a book. "It is impossible," ruled its president Vincent Montagne, arguing that the economic situation of publishers is also fragile.
In an interview published recently by Les Echos , Vincent Montagne explained that the State, and in particular the Ministry of Social Affairs "has a great deal of responsibility for the anger expressed by the authors". The president of the SNE targeted the increase in the CSG or the “inability” of the state to resolve certain problems such as that of Agessa, the body responsible for collecting the social security contributions of the authors.
Private pension
The Racine report noted that Agessa had not collected the pension contributions of 190,000 of its taxable persons for 40 years, thus depriving them of their pension rights.
The government put an end to the problem in 2018, with a decree which charges (since January 1, 2019) Urssaf Limousin with the levy of all contributions. But many authors find themselves deprived of pension today because of the dysfunctions of the piloting of Agessa and, according to the authors, "of the inaction of the State during decades".
Culture
Racine report suggests strengthening "public policies" to support authors
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