8 January 2013

Amended Creative Europe Programme voted in by sweeping majority in the European Parliament

We’re delighted that the European Parliament’s Culture and Education Committee has voted in – with near unanimity – a revised Report on the Creative Europe Programme. European Peoples’ Party Spokesman for the dossier Jean-Marie Cavada says he is confident that, in its current form, the report can now address the common challenges that the cultural and audiovisual sectors face.

Creative Europe – promoting economic growth, employment, innovation and social cohesion

The cultural and creative sectors hold untapped potential for economic growth and jobs – not to mention creative diversity – in Europe. The Creative Europe funding Programme will endeavour to ensure that these sectors can seize the opportunities that the digital age offers them. It is worth €1.8 billion, and is set to apply from 2014 through to 2020.

Improvements to the original text

The Commission published the first draft of the report in November 2011. Concerned that the original text was too vague and ‘purely economic’ Jean-Marie Cavada worked hard with the dossier’s rapporteur to amend it to suit the needs of the culture and media professionals at the heart of Europe’s creativity. The new text includes the following revisions:

The two MEDIA and CULTURE Programmes will be kept apart, with specific targets for each programme;
The part on culture in the programme has been made more specific to enhance clarity;
Certain points on the guarantee fund have been improved to make it fairer.

Potential gains

According to the Commission, once up-and-running the Creative Europe Programme will provide funding for:

300 000 artists and cultural professionals and their works
More than 1 000 European films
2 500 European cinemas
More than 5 500 books and other literary works

Commenting, Jean-Marie Cavada said “With this vote, the proposal has gained the coherence it lacked.”

We’re delighted with the efforts made by the European Parliament on the dossier, and look forward to seeing cultural professionals enjoy the fruits of their labours in the years to come!

Policies

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence brings about many new opportunities for our lives, including in the field of culture and creativity, but its applications also raise a number of ethical and legal questions due to their wide-spread uncontrolled and unchecked usage.

Policies

Music Streaming

Music streaming has unquestionably become the predominant means of enjoying music, replacing traditional physical media and expanded far beyond the live sector by providing user-friendly, high quality, and affordable access to the largest possible repertoire anytime, anywhere, online, or offline.

Songs and compositions are at the heart of this thriving market, which counts 524 million users on subscription-based music services globally, reaches more than 2 billion users including the streaming on UGC platforms, and offers more than 70 million tracks from approximately 8 million artists.

Yet, the authors and composers cannot benefit adequately from this success, and the debate over unfairness of this market is gaining traction across Europe and around the world.

There is a need to look more closely at how songwriters and composers are connected to this thriving economy and what can be done to improve their currently neglected situation.

Read below to find out more about the Music Streaming market.

Policies

Buy-out contracts: a dangerous threat to European creators

European music creators (composers, lyricists etc.) are being forced to forsake thousands of euros in future earnings by draconian ‘work made for hire’ (WMH) and buy-out contracts.

Online audiovisual services and broadcasters that are mainly US-based are forcing music creators to accept such contracts, which enforce a one-time payment in exchange for their rights.

Given the worldwide popularity of shows and series on platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Disney etc., and their replay value, the audiovisual market represents an important revenue stream for creators. Soundtracks alone are part and parcel of series and often attract a similar amount of popularity, massively boosting sales, streams and the worldwide fanbase of their authors.

Read below to find out how video on demand (VOD) platforms and broadcasters are circumventing EU law and what can be done about it.

Policies

Authors’ societies & the collective management model

Authors’ societies are hugely beneficial to both authors (creators), users (platforms and services), and the broader public.

Beyond benefiting these different groups, authors’ societies also support the broader cultural ecosystem by funding and promoting cultural and creative initiatives.

Below are five key benefits to authors’ societies and the collective management model.

Policies

The Copyright Directive

In April 2019, the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market was formally adopted, a change that will positively transform authors’ rights throughout the EU. Each member state now has until 7 June 2021 to transpose the Directive into their respective national law.

This reform is an opportunity to address pressing issues for authors in the Digital Single Market and will promote the growth of Europe’s creative and cultural industries (CCIs) – a major driver of Europe’s economy.

One of the biggest achievements of this new piece of legislation was to address the
‘Transfer of Value’ problem, a priority issue for all European creators.

Below are some of the Directive’s key areas that will affect creators and those who profit from their work.