Discover EU authors’ societies in numbers
To have an overview of what authors’ societies in Europe represent, GESAC aggregated its members’ key figures in 2015. Our 33 members spread over 27 countries had over 1 million members last year, 97% of which were authors, the other 3% of which were publishers. The relevance of authors’ societies remains clear with nearly 50.000 new rights holders becoming members last year.
Authors’ societies paid out over 4 billion euros to some 550.000 authors in 2015. On top of that, 220 million euros were invested into new talents and cultural programs like festivals through social and cultural funds, exceeding the EU’s yearly culture budget.
Despite massive usage of protected works online, the remuneration of authors for these usages remains critically low (only 6% of collections). This shows the gravity of the transfer of value issue, where platforms reap the benefits of creators’ value online without sharing it. The issue is currently being worked on at the European Parliament and Council, following the Commission’s proposal published earlier this year.
Check out all the numbers here.