FROM SOZA HISTORY

  • 9 October 1919, Prague – Association Protecting Musical Works Composers and  Publishers (Ochranné sdružení spisovatelů a nakladatelů hudebních děl) – Constitutive General Meeting (without representatives from Slovakia);
  • 12 May 1920 – OSA Board (Association Protecting Authors) approved the statement of Viliam Figuš-Bystrý (1875-1967) on transferring his copyrights. In this way V. Figuš-Bystrý became one of the first Slovak composers represented by OSA; 
  • 10 November 1921 – Czechoslovakia accessed to Berne Convention from 1886;
  • 2 October 1922, Prague – OSA Board decided about a new position of a trustee for Slovakia and the military band leader Josef Gedenk was appointed to that position;
  • 19 November 1922 – OSA Extraordinary General Meeting;
  • 1 July 1923 – 3rd OSA Ordinary General Meeting – both meetings with the participation of Slovak authors;
  • 1924 – Resolution of OSA General Meeting on a loan to be used as a mortgage on the house where OSA had its seat in Bratislava;
  • 14 April 1939, Bratislava – Constitutive General Meeting of the Slovak Association of Music Composers, Writers and Publishers, cooperative of a limited liabilities company  (Slovenský autorský sväz hudobných skladateľov, spisovateľov a nakladateľov, družstva s.r.o (abbreviation SAS).

 

Constitutive members of the cooperative:

Mikuláš Schneider Trnavský, Eugen Suchoň, Alexander Moyzes, Gejza Dusík, Ján Valašťan-Dolinský, Ľubomír Kupčok, Dr. Vojtech Hudec, Miloš Ruppeldt, Ján Krasko (34 constitutive members in total).

 

The first Board (Administration) of the cooperative:

Mikuláš Schneider Trnavský – Chairman

Dr. Vojtech Hudec – Vice Chairman

Gejza Dusík – Member (for light music)

Miloš Ruppeldt – Member (for Publishers)

Members of the Supervisory Board:

Alexander Moyzes, Alexander Albrecht, Otto Kaušitz

Members of the Classification Committee:

Eugen Suchoň, Ľubomír Kupčok, Ján Krasko, Ján Geryk

According to the Agreement with OSA, approved through a resolution at the Constitutive General Meeting, SAS took fully the rights and obligations of the former OSA branch in the territory of Slovakia over.

Very soon two groups of members developed, authors with a different status: Authors – members of the cooperative, and Authors – non-members, in accordance with the Agreement on copyright representation.

 

  • At the end of 1939 SAS had 43 members and 102 represented authors.
  • After WW2: new agreement between OSA and SAS: in Slovakia SAS carried out its own activities; from the point of view of international relations OSA represented the whole territory of Czechoslovakia.
  • Since 1949 - SOZA was an organisation subordinated to the Ministry of Culture.

Since 1970 – SOZA is a CISAC member (Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d´Auteurs et Compositeurs), International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies which associates 232 societies from 120 countries of the world, it represents more than 3 million authors working in all fields of art (music, drama, literature, audio-visual art, graphic and visual art). In the years 1966 – 1969 Eugen Suchoň represented Slovakia in the position of CISAC Vice Chairman.

Since 1973 – SOZA is a BIEM member (Bureau International des Sociétés Gérant les Droits d´Enregistrement et de Reproduction Mécanique), International organisation associating collective rights management societies focused on protection of so-called mechanical rights.

  • In 1992 – transformation in an independent civic association which pursuant to the Authorisation granted by the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic administers property rights on music from the whole world and performs the collective rights management pursuant to the Copyright Act.

Since 2005 – SOZA is a GESAC member (Groupement Européen des Sociétés d´Auteurs et Compositeurs), European association of authors and composers societies from the EU countries, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. It represents over 1 million authors active in music, graphic art, literature, theatre and drama, and audio-visual art as well.

  • At present SOZA represents more than 3.000 local and over 1.5 million composers, writers of lyrics and publishers from the whole world.

 

 

Chairmen of the Board / Supervisory Board 

1920 – 1939                          Josef Bohuslav Foerster (OSA)

1939 – 1953                          Mikuláš Schneider Trnavský (from 11 May 1945 he was a life long Chairman)

1945 – 1974                          Eugen Suchoň

1975 – 1983                          Ladislav Burlas

1983 – 1989                          Iľja Zeljenka

1990 – 2008                          Július Kinček

2008 -                                    Matúš Jakabčic

SOZA Directors

1922 – 1939                          Josef Gedenk (OSA truste)

                                               Július Bochníček (Head of OSA Inspectorate)

1939 – 1942                          Miloš Ruppeldt 

1943 – 1974                          Gejza Dusík

1974 – 1977                          Andrej Gaduš

1977                                      Kristína Nemcová

1977 – 1989                          Štefan Malíček

1990 – 1992                          Pavol Haršányi

1992 – 1993                          Romana Draškovičová

1994 – 2003                          Peter Kliment

2003 – 2007                          Ladislav Briestenský

2007 – 2008                          Pavol Jursa

2008 – 2013                          Vladimír Repčík

2013 - 2016                           Anton Popovič

 

SOZA Management Board

2016 - 2017                             Mgr. art. Ľubomír Burgr (Chairman), Ing. Richard Jajcay, JUDr. PhDr. Silvester Danóczy, PhD.

2017 - 2023                             Mgr. art. Ľubomír Burgr (Chairman), Mgr. Tomáš Mikš, JUDr. PhDr. Silvester Danóczy, PhD.

from 2023                               Mgr. art. Ľubomír Burgr (Chairman), Ing. Richard Jajcay, Mgr. Tomáš Mikš