Copyright Directive: Europe for Creators welcomes S&D Group’s positive direction
On Thursday, 21 March, Europe for Creators issued the following press release:
Press release
The Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the second largest political group in the European Parliament, announced yesterday that they had recommended their members vote in favour of the entire Copyright Directive and against any amendments.
Europe For Creators, on behalf of individual creators and organisations from the creative sector, welcomes this decision.
The final text agreed in the trialogue is a result of more than 3 years of examination and debate among all of the stakeholders and EU institutions. The vote next week is the final step and the last chance to adopt this crucial and long-sought legislation. Any amendment would mean breaking the trialogue agreement, leaving no time to reconsider a new text before the European elections, and leaving European citizens, businesses and the creative sector adrift in the Digital Single Market.
- More than 300 organisations from the creative sector support the adoption of the Directive.
- More than 400 well-known and emerging creators, including Pedro Almodóvar, Sir Alan Parker, Ennio Moricone, Benny and Björn (Abba), Axelle Red, Daniel Buren, Marjane Satrapi, Piotr Rubik, Ali Smith, and Malorie Blackman made a strong statement in favour of the Directive.
- World’s biggest grouping of academics and practitioners in the field of copyright law, ALAI, today published its opinion in support of the adoption of the Directive.
- The search engine Qwant, a European alternative to Google that respects user data, declared that it welcomed the Directive and was ready to pay creators.
The Copyright Directive not only forces the tech giants to play fair and negotiate with creators. It also provides solutions for start-ups and includes mandatory and harmonized copyright exceptions to promote access to educational material, scientific research and cultural heritage online. For the first time, and thanks to the European Parliament and the S&D group, authors and performers will be provided with legal tools to bring about fairness in their contracts and guarantees for remuneration.
Wikipedia, which just received a hefty donation from Google, announced that it will shut down in certain countries today in protest against Article 13. However, Wikipedia itself would not be affected by this provision, given that not-for profit online encyclopaedias are exempt. In contrast, Europeana, the European initiative for access to knowledge and cultural heritage, came out in favour of the adoption of the Directive, citing its significant contribution to the dissemination of knowledge and culture throughout Europe.
The Copyright Directive is a leap forward for Europe in the digital age.
Please say YES to the Copyright Directive!