The 25th Goya Awards ceremony was somewhat overshadowed by the continuing fallout from the very public spat between Culture Minister Ángeles González-Sinde and Alex de la Iglesia, the president of the Spanish film academy, over the government’s recently approved and controversial anti-piracy law. Academy president Alex de la Iglesia at the Goya ceremony. Protesters wearing V for Vendetta masks booed and threw eggs at government ministers and movie-world bigwigs as they arrived at the February 13 ceremony, reserving their cheers exclusively for De la Iglesia. De la Iglesia, a filmmaker himself who has resigned from his post as president of the film academy in protest at what has become … [Read more...] about Goya Awards: and the winner is… González-Sinde
Ángeles González-Sinde
Industry infighting spices up Spanish cinema awards
Sunday Bloody Sunday, Star Wars, and perhaps Gunfight at the O.K. Corral: this year’s Goya cinema awards ceremony on February 13 looks like producing more off-stage drama than the content of all those movies put together. Topping the bill in this very public spat is Ángeles González-Sinde, a scriptwriter and director herself and former president of the Spanish Cinema Academy, who in her current role as culture minister is trying to push through legislation against P2P downloading sites along the lines of that in place in France, the UK, and the United States. The new legislation has been dubbed the “Sinde Law” in her honour. In her quest to protect what she calls “Spain’s … [Read more...] about Industry infighting spices up Spanish cinema awards
Spain’s anti-P2P “Sinde law”: Her Master’s Voice?
Imagine the press conference in the pre-Wikileaks world of just a month ago: a journalist stands up and asks Spanish Culture Minister Ángeles González-Sinde if her government’s persistence in trying to push through a controversial anti-P2P bill making it easier to shut down websites that link to copyrighted material might have something to do with pressure from the US embassy in Madrid. Visibly outraged at the suggestion, Sinde sidelines the question, and reiterates the official line: “The government is fully committed to protecting intellectual copyright, which is fundamental to the growth of our culture industry… Spain cannot afford the luxury of wasting its creative talent and the … [Read more...] about Spain’s anti-P2P “Sinde law”: Her Master’s Voice?
Lost at sea in the fight against digital piracy
In recent years, Spain has won itself the dubious honour of being labelled a haven for illegal downloading, to such an extent that international distributors have voiced doubts about continuing to supply the country with material such as DVDs. The government has attempted to tackle this issue with a raft of anti-piracy measures. Known as the Sinde Law, after Culture Minister Ángeles González Sinde, they were confusingly tacked onto an Economic Sustainability Law unveiled last year. The specific details of the legislation were not approved until March and Congress is expected to put the act into effect over the next couple of months. Production companies, content providers and the … [Read more...] about Lost at sea in the fight against digital piracy