CCAAA Board meeting at the UNESCO HQ in Paris in March 2017.

The CCAAA's Terms of Reference

This new revised version of the CCAAA's Terms of Reference was approved by the CCAAA Board on 14 June 2022.

I           Role and Purpose

The Co-ordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA) is a network of relevant international non-governmental associations dealing with all aspects of audiovisual archiving on a professional level speaking with a common voice with the aim of promoting and encouraging:

• The recognition of the audiovisual heritage as part of the world’s cultural and documentary heritage
• The preservation and the accessibility of the audiovisual heritage on an international level.

II         Background: Why the CCAAA Exists

• The audiovisual heritage is an endangered part of the cultural and documentary heritage.
• The archival value assigned to AV Heritage arises from its intellectual, cultural, and academic content and is not dependent on its source or on transient commercial factors.
• Acting as a coordinated group, the CCAAA members can contribute significantly to the safeguarding of the audiovisual heritage.
• The preservation of the audiovisual heritage concerns those who produce, those who preserve and disseminate as well as those who use audiovisual documents.
• The digital age has extended the traditional boundaries of the audio-visual heritage. The CCAAA can play an important role in seeking solutions to the challenges regarding preservation, provision of access and copyright that accompany digitization.  

III        Objectives

The objectives of the CCAAA are to:

• Encourage, promote and enable the exchange of information between the member associations.
• Be a coordinating body and a supporting framework for outreach to the larger cultural heritage community.
• Encourage and support the regular occurrence of conferences and other events and projects on a global or regional basis, addressing issues of common concern to all member associations, within or outside the framework of other meetings.
• Provide the platform for the collective representation of member associations to international, government, and relevant non-governmental bodies.
• Seek to coordinate representational activity where this would be of general benefit to the audiovisual archive profession.
• Produce and/or endorse policy statements and position papers on key issues such as copyright, and technical standards.

IV       Membership and the Board

The CCAAA Board (Board) is composed of representatives of all CCAAA members.

A. Membership is open to associations whose membership is international and is composed of institutions or individuals working in the audiovisual archival field.

B. There are two membership categories:

• Category A members are associations whose main activity is audiovisual archiving. Category A members pay the full membership fee and have two votes on issues that are decided by vote of the Board.
  
  
• Category B members are associations whose activities include audiovisual archiving, although this is not their main area of concern. Category B members pay a reduced membership fee and have one vote on issues that are decided by ballot.

The Board may grant Category B membership to new member associations whose main activity is audiovisual archiving if the reasons put forward are deemed to justify this.

C. Admission to membership requires that the objectives of the candidate association and the CCAAA are in broad agreement.

D. Each member association may be represented on the Board by no more than two representatives.

E.   Each member association should normally be represented on the Board by its President and Secretary General but may, by exception, be represented by one or two formally mandated representatives.

F. With common objectives on preservation of and access to the audiovisual heritage and historical links to CCAAA, UNESCO shall be invited to attend and to participate in Board meetings as an observer in order to ensure that objectives of the CCAAA are disseminated as widely as possible in its member states. CCAAA representatives may be invited to attend UNESCO meetings as they pertain to matters of audiovisual preservation in the cultural heritage sector.

V         Organization

1. The Board is chaired by the formally mandated representative of one of the member associations. The Chair is allocated to member associations on a rotating basis, for a term of two calendar years. The next Chair will be decided at the last Board meeting before the due start of a new term of office.

The Chair will represent the CCAAA at conferences and events as agreed on by the Board, will issue statements on behalf of the CCAAA, will chair meetings of the Board, and will work closely with the Secretary General to set agendas of Board meetings, and provide oversight of CCAAA finances and projects.

1. The Secretary General shall be appointed for a term of three years and is renewable at the discretion of the Board. The Secretary General is not a formally mandated representative of, and is not required to be affiliated with a member association.
   
   The Secretary General will work closely with the Chair to set agendas for meetings of the Board and provide oversight of CCAAA finances and projects. The Secretary General will act as a primary contact point with UNESCO, document meetings, disseminate information between meetings, and manage membership for CCAAA. Membership management will include invoicing membership fees and confirming membership category and representatives for each association annually.
   
   The Secretary General is required to attend all Board meetings, but does not participate in Board votes. A stipend will be paid by the CCAAA for this work and travel expenses to/from the Annual Meeting, when needed, will be paid.
2. The Board may appoint a coordinator or other officer for a limited period of time to provide support in furthering and managing specific CCAAA activities. Such position(s) will include a description of duties, length of term, and stipend amount (if any). Appointed positions do not participate in Board votes.
3. The Board may appoint CCAAA representation to international, government, and relevant non-governmental bodies directly or through allocation of such representation to member associations.

VI       Meetings

A. The Board will meet at least twice a year, either in person or by conference/video call.

B. A CCAAA Board meeting shall be valid if at least two thirds of the Members and half of the Category A members are present or represented.

C. A Member unable to attend a Board meeting can be present by chosing to be represented by another Member. Notice of this change in representation must be submitted by the Member in writing to the Secretary General before the start of the meeting.  A Member can only represent one other Member.

D. The Chair and the Secretary General attend all meetings.

VII       Decision-making

           The Board will aim for consensus when making decisions.

A. Representatives of the member associations attending meetings of the Board must have mandates from their executive boards to vote on agenda items. The agenda will be circulated at least two weeks in advance of meetings.

B. Where issues are put to the vote a simple majority of allocated votes will apply, except as outlined in Section VII.C. When a vote results in a tie, the Chair has one additional casting vote.

C. In the case of votes to dissolve the CCAAA, approval of new members, changes to membership fees, or changes to the Terms of Reference, a two-third majority of all Category A voting members is required.

1. Voting may be done electronically, but in this case votes must be received from all member organizations in order to be a valid vote.
2. The right to vote is exercised by member associations in good standing present at meetings. Membership fees and other obligations must be paid in full prior to the start of the meeting in order to be in good standing.

VIII     Finance and Fees

Each member association agrees that a financial contribution is needed to support the administrative costs of the Board.

A.   The annual membership subscription fee is currently set at €1,000 for Category A members €500 for Category B members.

B. Annual fees are due in the month of June. Persistent arrears may result in the termination of membership by a vote of the Board.

C. CCAAA funds will be held in by a member association appointed by the Board until such time as CCAAA establishes its own account. The terms governing this arrangement will be outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding between the appointed association and CCAAA. The association will receive funds and make payments on behalf of CCAAA and provide a regular financial report as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding.

D. The Chair and the Secretary General will provide oversight of CCAAA finances and the Secretary General will prepare financial reports for the Board. Only the Chair and Secretary General may authorize payments on behalf of CCAAA.

E. The Board may submit bids to UNESCO and other grant-making bodies to support the costs of projects including publications, surveys, public relations and lobbying activities, training workshops, and website development.

IX        Publications

A. The Board will maintain a website for the dissemination of information to members and to other interested parties. Responsibility for maintenance of the website will be addressed at the first meeting of the Board each year.

B. The Board may publish from time-to-time position and policy papers, briefing notes, recommendations, and similar documents on behalf of the CCAAA.

X         Dissolution

Should CCAAA be dissolved, any funds held at that time will be distributed between the members in good standing at the time of dissolution. Category A members will receive an amount equal to twice the amount that Category B members receive