SIAE copyright fees block art images in Italian press, harming artists and journalism

The Italian copyright collective SIAE continues to obstruct art journalism by imposing prohibitive fees for reproducing images of contemporary artworks. A recent example occurred in the May 24, 2024 issue of Il Venerdì di Repubblica, where art historian Tomaso Montanari's column 'Ora d'Arte' featured a blank space instead of Eugenio Merino's 2010 work 'Senza titolo' (a Menorah mounted on an Uzi machine gun) because SIAE licensing costs were too high. Montanari noted the irony that the image remains easily viewable on his Instagram, where copyright enforcement is weaker. Artribune itself faced similar issues when reviewing Giorgio Morandi's exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan and Picasso's retrospective at Galleria Nazionale, forced to publish without images. SIAE's OLAF section (Literature & Visual Arts) demands unsustainable fees and bureaucratic delays for permission, even blocking press offices from purchasing image packages for journalists. The problem has been ongoing since 2022, when it reached Parliament, but has worsened as newsroom budgets shrink. Artribune interviewed SIAE director Stefania Caponetti in March 2024 and lawyer Gilberto Cavagna di Gualdana to highlight the lack of clarity in copyright law. The article calls for government intervention and collective action by publishers to challenge SIAE's restrictions on press freedom.