Union of Polish Stage Artists (Związek Artystów Scen Polskich ZASP – Stowarzyszenie) is a Polish union established 21 December 1918, during Constitutional Congress in Rozmaitości Theater in Warsaw. First chair was Józef Śliwicki. The statute of the Union was signed, among others, by: Stefan Jaracz, Juliusz Osterwa and Aleksander Zelwerowicz.

History In the interwar period, ZASP became one of the most dynamic labor organizations in Poland. Thanks to the so-called organizational coercion established by ZASP, theaters had employ only union members, and belonging to ZASP was compulsory for professional actors. ZASP also led to the signing of the contract, which guaranteed the actors the height of the minimum garage throughout the season. In 1928, the union built the House of Veterans of Polish Scenes in Skolimów. In 1976 ZASP joined International Federation of Actors. In 1932 it led to the creation of the first modern theater school in Poland – the State Institute of Theater Art.

During WW2 ZASP became a conspirational organization. In 1940 they issued a ban on participating in artistic events organized by the Germans. Most of the acting environment observed the ban.

In 1950 ZASP was dissolved and replaced with Stowarzyszenie Polskich Artystów Teatru i Filmu (SPATiF, Association of Polish Theatre and Film Artists). In 1952 name was changed to SPATiF-ZASP. In 1981 they returned to the pre-war name. 1 December 1982 ZASP was dissolved by the authorities, and replaced on 19 December 1983 with "new" ZASP, which was joined by 1/5 members of the previous union. In 1989 two unions were joined.

Ministry of Culture 1 February 1995 issued permission for ZASP forcollective copyright management of theater directors and theater stage designers in the following fields of operation:Obwieszczenie Ministra Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego z dnia 26 marca 2009 r. w sprawie ogłoszenia decyzji Ministra Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego o udzieleniu i o cofnięciu zezwolenia na podjęcie działalności organizacji zbiorowego zarządzania prawami autorskimi lub prawami pokrewnymi (). preservartion, multiplication by any technique, introducing to the market, lending, renting, public performance, displaying, playing, broadcasting, re-broadcasting, making the work publicly available in such a way that everyone can access it at a place and time of their choice.

The permit also covers the management of related rights of performers: actors, soloists, singers, dancers (including the right to collect remuneration) in the fields of exploitation: recording, multiplication by any technique, marketing, lending, rental, broadcasting, re-broadcasting, reproduction, making available to the public artistic fixation in such a way that everyone can have access to it in a place and at a time chosen by them.

The Union also collects remuneration for displaying an audiovisual work in cinemas, renting copies of audiovisual works and their public broadcast, and broadcasting an audiovisual work on television or through other means of making works available to the public.

Controversies In 2001, Kazimierz Kaczor (then president of ZASP) and Cezary Morawski (then treasurer of ZASP; in 2005, the Main Board of ZASP deprived Morawski of membership in the association) exposed the union to over PLN 9.2 million in losses, but were acquitted in 2011i. The court dismissed all appeals, both the defendants and the prosecutor's, found the defendants guilty, while conditionally discontinuing the proceedings for a probationary period of one year, because the actions of the defendants were the result of a violation of the principles of prudence and not intentional action, and noted that no one is alleging fraud, and their the fault was unintentional; the judgment is final.

Irregularities with the investment of money from unclaimed royalties caused a scandal (2002) that led to the withdrawal of many artists from the union. Some of them formed a competing organization: Stowarzyszenie Artystów Filmu i Telewizji (Association of Artists of Film and Television). The final judgment in this case was an important issue during the competition procedure, which in September 2016 led to the selection of Cezary Morawski as the director of the Teatr Polski in Wrocław.

September 2018 reporters of TVN24 revealed that one of the rooms at the headquarters of the Union of Polish Stage Artists was made available to the founder of the Academic Theater of the University of Warsaw, who during rehearsals sexually harassed female high school and university students playing in his productions.

ZASP chairs

1919–1920 – Józef Śliwicki 1920–1921 – Józef Kotarbiński 1921–1924 – Józef Śliwicki 1924–1926 – Tadeusz Mazurkiewicz 1926–1929 – Józef Śliwicki 1929–1930 – Jerzy Bojanowski 1930–1932 – Ignacy Dygas 1932–1933 – Robert Boelke 1933–1944 – Józef Śliwicki 1945–1948 – Dobiesław Damięcki 1948–1949 – Feliks Chmurkowski 1950–1954 – Leon Schiller 1954–1955 – Marian Wyrzykowski p.o. 1955–1957 – Wojciech Brydziński 1957–1959 – Marian Wyrzykowski 1959–1961 – Henryk Szletyński 1961–1963 – Jan Kreczmar 1963–1965 – Henryk Szletyński 1965–1970 – Władysław Krasnowiecki 1970–1981 – Gustaw Holoubek 1981–1982 – Andrzej Szczepkowski 1983–1985 – Henryk Szletyński 1985–1988 – Tadeusz Jastrzębowski 1988–1989 – Kazimierz Dejmek 1989–1996 – Andrzej Łapicki 1996–2002 – Kazimierz Kaczor 2002–2005 – Olgierd Łukaszewicz 2005–2006 – Ignacy Gogolewski 2006–2010 – Krzysztof Kumor 2010 – Joanna Szczepkowska 2011–2018 – Olgierd Łukaszewicz 2018–2020 – Paweł Królikowski Since 2020 – Krzysztof Szuster

Sourced from ZASP page.

References

External sources Official website of ZASP ZASP in National Court Register