Author societies.eu – mid-year review
Now that we are over the half-way point of this year, we look back at some of the highlights of 2013 so far:
January Author society CEO speaks to leading French publication on cultural sector and its contribution to economy
Jean-Noël Tronc, Director General of Sacem, spoke to leading French publication Les Echos about the financial contribution of the creative industries to the French economy and the role of Sacem as a non-profit cooperative organisation representing creators across the creative sector.
You can read the full article here.
February Author societies speak out against Vitorino recommendations
A coalition of organisations representing authors, performers and producers challenged the recommendations made by Antonio Vitorino on private copying.
Mr Vitorino’s recommendations demonstrated a serious misunderstanding of the private copying system, depriving consumers of their ability to legally make copies for private purposes and obliging rightsholders to negotiate the remuneration for private copies (which normally falls under an “exception” that cannot be negotiated) in the purchase price of the digital content, leading to an increase of the prices to the detriment of consumers.
Later in July, two judgements delivered by the EU Court on different cases confirmed that several of Mr Vitoriono’s recommendations were not in conformity with EU law.
March Marielle Gallo publishes working document on Collective Rights Management
Marielle Gallo, rapporteur on the Collective Rights Management Directive, published her working document on site of the European Parliament.
Months later, On 9 July, the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee unanimously adopted Marielle Gallo’s report on the collective management of copyright.
April EU Court backs author societies
The European Court of Justice overturned allegations that European author societies coordinated to restrict competition. By upholding their appeal against the 2008 European Commission decision, the ECJ confirmed that CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, and its members had not engaged in uncompetitive concerted practices to restrict competition.
May European Parliament votes to exclude culture from EU-US trade deal
In Strasbourg, the European Parliament voted in favour of excluding the cultural and creative industries from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Agreement. 381 of those present voted in favour of excluding these sectors from the potential deal; 191 voted against and 17 abstained.
This decision was backed by Europe’s trade ministers in June and marks a great victory for cultural and creative sectors.
June World Creators Summit
On June 4 & 5, 700 of the world’s leading creative stakeholders, including authors, industry figures and regulators gathered in Washington for the World Creators Summit.
Over the two days of the conference, 95 speakers mulled ways to ensure a fair and sustainable environment for the creative sector.
July CRM Directive Report of the European Parliament voted in Legal Affairs Committee
The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee unanimously adopted Marielle Gallo’s report on the collective management of copyright. The creators of this platform welcomed the favourable vote, and urged the European Union institutions to address the outstanding issues and rapidly finalise the legislative process.