24 June 2013

Georg Oeller appointed BIEM president

The recent CISAC conference in Washington DC witnessed two crucial appointments.

Georg Oeller appointed BIEM president GEMA executive board member Georg Oeller was elected President of the management committee of the general assembly of BIEM (Bureau International des Sociétés gérant les Droits d’Enregistrement et de Reproduction Mécanique) on June 7, 2013 in Washington D.C. At the same time, Karl-Heinz Klempnow was appointed Vice President of the general assembly.

Oeller succeeds Thierry Desurmont (SACEM/SDRM), who had held the position since 2009. The election of a new president was timed to coincide with restructuring at the umbrella organization. In future, the functions of President and Secretary General will be amalgamated, and Oeller will take on both roles in a voluntary capacity. The structural reform aims to take into account the difficulties the music industry is facing and to concentrate BIEM’s activities on exploiting music on physical data storage devices.

Harald Heker, chairman of GEMA’s executive board, said: “I am delighted that my fellow board member Georg Oeller, an expert in licensing and distributing mechanical rights, has been elected to the top of the international organization representing mechanical rights societies. With Karl-Heinz Klempnow appointed the general assembly’s Vice President as well, GEMA board members now hold two influential positions within BIEM and can play a defining role in its future. These appointments are a huge vote of confidence in the work being done by GEMA from our counterpart organizations around the world, and send an important signal to music makers in Germany.”BIEM was founded in 1929 and represents 52 organizations working in mechanical reproduction rights across 56 countries. (www.biem.org)

GEMA represents in Germany the copyrights of more than 65,000 members (composers, lyricists, and music publishers), as well as over two million copyright holders all over the world. It is one of the largest societies of authors for musical works.

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.