VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMD #0724/01 1840921
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020921Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5015

UNCLAS MADRID 000724 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/OHI (JKENNEDY;JBECKER) 
STATE FOR EEB/IPE (JURBAN) 
STATE FOR EUR/WE, OES, L/OES 
STATE PASS USTR (DWEINER) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD KIPR PBTS PHSA SCUL SP
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MINISTER OF CULTURE 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Ambassador met with Minister of Culture Cesar 
Antonio Molina on 6/30/08.  The minister told the Ambassador 
that he was willing to meet with the claimant or his 
representative in a Nazi art loot case.  The minister 
emphasized he was willing to continue to fight intellectual 
property rights (IPR) piracy.  He was also clearly following 
the Odyssey case closely and made it clear that the GOS would 
exercise all of its legal options.  The minister discussed 
cultural cooperation with the U.S. as well.  End Summary 
 
PARTICIPANTS 
------------ 
 
¶2. (U) The minister was accompanied by Cultural Industries 
Policy Director General Guillermo Corral van Damme.  The 
Ambassador was accompanied by EconOff. 
 
CASSIRER CLAIM 
-------------- 
 
¶3. (U)  The Ambassador stressed the USG's interest in direct 
discussions between the Spanish government and Claude 
Cassirer, the AmCit claimant of a painting by Camille Pisarro 
("Rue St. Honore") in the Thyssen Museum.  The Ambassador 
noted also that while the Odyssey and Cassirer claim were on 
separate legal tracks, it was in both governments' interest 
to avail themselves of whatever margin for manuever they had, 
consistent with their legal obligations, to resolve both 
matters in a way that favored the bilateral relationship. 
The minister listened carefully to the Ambassador's message, 
but he put the accent on the separateness of the issues. 
Molina said that no Spanish government could return the 
painting (if this is what the claimant wants).  To begin 
with, while the minister presides over the board that manages 
the Thyssen Museum's collection, the minister could not 
oblige the board to return the painting without a (Spanish) 
legal judgment.  The minister added that paying compensation, 
as the British government has reportedly done in a number of 
cases, also posed legal problems.  Director General van Damme 
said, however, that perhaps the Spanish government had 
"sinned" (pecado) in not meeting with the claimant or his 
representative.  The minister said that he was willing to 
meet with the claimant or his representative in connection 
with a trip to Washington, D.C. in September or October this 
year. 
 
IPR 
--- 
 
¶4. (U) The minister emphasized that he remains committed to 
fighting piracy.  He said that on July 10, he would preside 
over the Spanish government's inter-ministerial anti-piracy 
coordinating body.  Van Damme said that this meeting would 
serve to "relaunch efforts" to fight piracy.  The Ambassador 
noted that the USG had waited a number of years to place 
Spain on the Special 301 Watch List, but that this year, 
continued alarming internet piracy levels had precipitated 
the Watch List decision.  Having said that, the Ambassador 
also praised recent vigorous enforcement actions, for 
instance the arrests of 32 suspected Chinese DVD and CD 
pirates.  The Ambassador noted that the subsequent press 
conference, in which the minister said that Spaniards should 
not buy pirated products because such products harmed 
culture, was especially significant.  Both the minister and 
director general emphasized the importance of the internet. 
Van Damme said it was especially important to create 
attractive business models for selling content on-line.  The 
Ambassador suggested that the minister meet with IPR and 
internet service provider representatives when he travels to 
Washington this fall, and he agreed to do so. 
 
ODYSSEY 
------- 
 
¶5. (U) The minister explained that one of the reasons for his 
September or October Washington trip was to meet with the law 
firm the Spanish government has retained in the Odyssey case. 
 The minister added that he was following the court 
proceedings in Tampa, Florida closely.  He expressed 
indignation at a recent CNN interview of Odyssey CEO Greg 
Stemm who indicated that he would be willing to keep the gold 
coins found at the salvage site and return items of purely 
archeological interest.  The Ambassador explained that the 
USG was cognizant of its international law responsibilities 
in these kinds of salvage cases and that American government 
lawyers would study carefully the legal implications and 
obligations arising from the Tampa court's decisions. 
 
CULTURAL COOPERATION 
-------------------- 
 
¶6. (U)  The minister and the director general expressed great 
enthusiasm for cultural cooperation with the U.S. in general 
and Washington, D.C. in particular.  With respect to 
Washington, for instance, the minister talked about Spanish 
support for an exhibition of 1970s and 80s art.  He also 
talked about a more ambitious project, a "museum of "Latin" 
art (not clear where this would be, but he did talk about a 
"museum", not just a one-off exhibit). This would be separate 
from Ambassador Westendorp's (Spain's ambassador to the U.S.) 
idea of using the former Spanish Ambassador's residence in 
the Washington for some form of cultural repository. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7. (U) The minister's expressed willingness to meet with 
Claude Cassirer or his representative is a modest step 
forward.  We will remind the minister of this commitment whem 
he finalizes his Washington travel plans.  With respect to 
IPR, we think the minister is sincere in his desire to combat 
piracy.  Our challenge as an Embassy is to find ways to 
convince the GOS and stakeholders (especially the ISPs) that 
action against internet piracy cannot be held hostage to the 
mantra that "new business models" are required in this area. 
They certainly are necessary and desirable (both for ISPs and 
content providers).  However, action against piracy may, in 
some cases, be necessary to make those models feasible. 
 
AGUIRRE