ERIC BAPTISTE ELECTED CHAIRPERSON OF THE CISAC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Paris – CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, announced today the election of Mr. Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN – the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada  as Chairperson of its Board of Directors. Ms. Marisa Gandelman, CEO of UBC (Brazil) and Mr. Javier Gutierrez, CEO of VEGAP (Spain), continue holding their positions as Vice-Chairs.

With more than 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Eric Baptiste has influenced media, cultural policies, and collective management of rights around the world. He has strong links with CISAC, having served as Director General of the organization from 1999 to 2010.

In January 2010, Mr. Baptiste was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SOCAN, the Canadian performing rights organisation, and under his leadership the organization has achieved new records in music licensing collected for its more than 120,000 member songwriters, composers and music publishers. While serving as SOCAN CEO, he continued being active at CISAC, including as a member of the organization’s Board of Directors and as chair of CISAC committees.

“I and SOCAN feel particularly honoured that the CISAC board of directors chose me as their chairperson,” Mr. Baptiste said. “CISAC and the creative community are dear to my heart and, together with fantastic vice-chairs Marisa Gandelman and Javier Gutierrez, I look forward to helping CISAC provide leadership and unity to its 227 member collective management organizations in 120 countries in these times of profound change for the cultural and entertainment business.”

Olivier Hinnewinkel, Director General of CISAC, said: “We are delighted that Eric Baptiste has been elected as our Chairperson. CISAC will greatly benefit from Eric’s detailed understanding of the inner workings of the entertainment industry internationally, as well as his in-depth knowledge of our organization. Under his stewardship, we will continue to put creators front and centre of the copyright debate to further promote their interests.”

Before joining SOCAN, Mr. Baptiste was General Manager of French public International Radio RFI and CEO of 95.2 Paris, a French commercial FM station. He has also headed several trade associations and inter-industry groups, including Musiques France Plus and Vive la Radio.

A graduate of the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and the École nationale d’administration, Eric was bestowed the French government’s award of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2006.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Cécile ROY – Director of Communications, CISAC
Tel: +33 1 55 62 08 86
E-mail: cecile.roy@cisac.org

Andrew Berthoff
Vice-President of Communications, SOCAN
Tel: +1 416 442 3836
E-mail: berthoffa@socan.ca