16 April 2015

GESAC welcomes the strong commitment of France and Italy on Culture and authors’ right/copyright in Europe

On 9 April, Mr Dario Franceschini, the Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and the French Minister for Culture and Communication Ms. Fleur Pellerin adopted a joint statement on culture and authors’ right/copyright in Europe.

The statement issued by France and Italy recalls in particular the fundamental role played by authors’ right/copyright for cultural diversity, artistic creation and freedom of expression. France and Italy undertake to work together towards developing concrete proposals to ensure that authors’ right/copyright continue to play an essential role in the remuneration of creation and support for innovation within the European debate on authors’ right/copyright and the single digital market. The signatories believe that ensuring equitable sharing of value among stakeholders must be a priority for the European Union, in particular for the most fragile stakeholders, by promoting thedevelopment of the cultural and creative sector of which collective management societies are an integral part.

GESAC, grouping 34 authors’ societies from all over the EU and thus representing over one million authors and right holders, welcomes this strong commitment from these two prominent EU Countries.

GESAC General Manager Véronique Desbrosses said: « After the recent joint Franco-German statement, this new declaration is a proof of growing recognition of the central role of authors’ rights/copyright as an enabler for the development of a vibrant single digital market. In the current EU debate on authors’ right/copyright in the digital single market, policymakers must seize the opportunities offered to encourage and promote the cultural and creative industries, that are among the most dynamic sectors in terms of both adaptation to new business models and creation of jobs and growth in Europe. To do that, the value generated by digital technologies that owe their success mostly to access to creative works should be fairly shared with the creators of those works so as to ensure a sustainable digital content ecosystem.»

> Link to the Common Declaration: French version/ Italian version/ Non-official English version

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.