20 June 2017

Joint Declaration on Direct Injection

Joint Declaration from Europe’s Authors and Producers on the New Broadcasting Regulation and Direct Injection

We authors, writers, producers, film and TV directors and their collective management organisations write to you today on a vital issue for creators in the Draft Broadcasting Regulation – Direct Injection.

Direct Injection is a technology used by broadcasters to transmit their signals directly to distributors without those signals being accessible to the public until they have been supplied by the distributor to its subscriber base. The use of Direct Injection technology in the broadcasting sector is leading to a de facto resource transfer from Europe’s creators on the one hand to distributors and broadcasters on the other.

This is because Direct Injection is used by some broadcasters and distributors to take advantage of a new loophole in Europe’s copyright framework. They argue that when a signal is directly injected there is no copyright relevant act (i.e. communication to the public) to be licensed under the EU copyright acquis. This is unacceptable.

Cable Europe members (distributors) generated some €11 billion in 2015 from the audiovisual content services they offer, whereas retransmission services generate approximately €120 million annually for independent producers and €128 million for audiovisual authors in 2015. Broadcasting and retransmission together constitute 37% of authors’ total revenues and are essential sources of revenue for creators.

Broadcasters generate revenues based on advertising, as well as being paid by distributors for the right to use their signals, and distributors are paid by their subscribers for the TV packages they offer. However, both broadcasters and/or distributors are increasingly refusing to pay creators because of the Direct Injection loophole. This cannot continue.

To restore the legal certainty in the market for the benefit of creative sector and consumers, the law must recognise that in the case of Direct Injection broadcasters and distributors carry out a joint communication to the public for which they are both liable and for which they must remunerate creators fairly. This is an urgent issue for Europe’s creators and has to be fixed now or the output of quality European content is going to be seriously jeopardised.

AGICOA – Association of Audiovisual Producers and Producer Rights Management Organisations
EUROCOPYA – European Federation of Joint Management Societies of Producers for Private Audiovisual Copying
FERA – Federation of European Film Directors
FSE – Federation of Screenwriters in Europe
GESAC – European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers SAA – Society of Audiovisual Authors
SAA – Society of Audiovisual Authors

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.