UNIVIDEO, the Italian association of home video editors, producers, and distributors, was founded in 1984, right when the home video market in Italy was developing.
Today Univideo has 27 member companies, representing more than 93 % of the national market. (See the list of members.)
The Assembly of Members is Univideo’s primary management body, in which all the members are represented with different proportional voting shares. All of the main decisions, strategic management, and budgets are discussed and voted on by this board, which is usually convened twice a year.
The Univideo Statute establishes the position of the association’s President, elected by the Assembly of Members and supported by a Board of Directors (representatives of the member companies), which is composed of rightful members, as well as elected members, for a current total of 13 representatives. The Board of Directors holds monthly meetings to discuss the situation and to share operational decisions.
In addition, the President is supported by the Vice Presidential Board, composed of up to four Vice President (currently three) and the former President. This board plays a solely consultative role, providing the President with support thanks to the expertise of his members
UNIVIDEO is a member of IVF, the International Video Federation, a European organization operating in Brussels, which represents the Home Video Publishers’ European associations. The President of IFV is Mr. Gianmaria Donà, currently Univideo’s representative in IVF.
Our association is also a founding member of FAPAV, the Italian federation fighting physical and digital piracy in the audiovisual market. We collaborate in the launch of educational campaigns and cooperate with Italian law enforcement and with other European authorities to stop piracy in our country.
UNIVIDEO is a member of CCI, Confindustria Cultura Italia, the board of the federation of Italian industrialists, which oversees federative activities relating to various forms of culture, and which is in touch with the government and its ministries regarding the various laws and regulations that are also relevant to our sector.
Our association owns ASEA, the industry agency which, according to our agreements with SIAE (the Italian copyright collecting agency), a government appointed institution, distributes the private copying compensation to the rights holders of the videogram editors sector. Italy is, in fact, the only European country in which the PCC is paid to this category, which includes producers/editors and distributors of home videos, and of which UNIVIDEO is the association.
Our activities as an association range from lobbying the authorities in the event of discussions about national sector-specific laws or the application of European laws and regulations in our country, like for example: copyright laws, DSA (Digital Service Act), DMA (Digital Market Act), and initiatives in support of the audiovisual market, both physical and digital, like for example the Digital Movie Days, a promotional campaign for the digital transnational market, which has been replicated in various European countries.
In the past few months we’ve also been working with the government to try to obtain, within the decree for financial assistance associated with the COVID-19 emergency, a temporary reduction in VAT tax for physical and digital supports in an effort to assist the audiovisual market, by means of amendments that would be inserted in the decree itself.
UNIVIDEO has relationships with the primary sector-based retail associations, always in view of promoting the market and raising awareness among users. For example, we’re cooperating with these associations to support the use of the APP 18 subsidy for the purchase of DVD and Blu-ray players. The subsidy has been earmarked by the government for 18-year-olds to purchase goods and services from the electronic and cultural sector.
For our lobbying activities, as well as those that promote the sector, we operate within a pre-market logic, in full respect of antitrust laws, and take advantage of the support of consultants and law firms with proven experience.
Our development strategy has also lead us to represent the world of digital distribution and audiovisual content, which, as often happens, is managed by large production companies whose corporate structures are situated in other European countries.
To this end, we have created an internal board, UNIVIDEO DIGITAL, which specifically deals with the issues of the digital sector and which coordinates with the chairman and the board of directors to determine the association’s position on various arguments, like those previously mentioned, and to meet with authorities in the event of hearings and legislative proposals