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London- PRS for Music Chief Executive, Robert Ashcroft delivered a compelling speech at the AGM on 18 May at the British Library Conference Centre to PRS board members, members, staff, industry leaders and media.

Robert Ashcroft highlighted the unprecedented changes across the music market and value gap between some technology platforms and what is paid to music creators. He said, “This is our battle. You must be protected by strong copyright law and our government must support us with the European Commission in our demands that the boundaries of Safe Harbour be re-drawn to ensure that any service that aggregates, disseminates or curates copyright works is fully licensed in a free market.”

Click here to read the full speech

The Commission adopted its Communication on the Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe today. GESAC, which gathers 34 authors’ societies from across Europe and represents more than one million authors and rights holders, welcomes the intention of the Commission to clarify the conditions for the use of copyright protected works by online intermediaries within the forthcoming legislative initiative on copyright. As noted in the Communication, this is particularly important considering intermediaries’ growing involvement in content distribution and the need to safeguard fair remuneration for creators in order to encourage future generations of content.

Today, creators receive very low or no remuneration from the biggest usage of their works on Internet. This is because the biggest and most popular online platforms/services deny that they undertake copyright relevant acts and then hide behind “safe-harbours” to avoid appropriate remuneration and consent of creators under copyright law. This situation severely penalises authors and rights holders and thus puts the future and sustainability of the entire creative ecosystem at risk: and ecosystem that happens to be one of the main contributors to the overall EU economy. It also discourages legitimate online businesses that provide the same or similar services while clearing relevant rights and trying to be part of a strong European digital market.

GESAC’s General Manager, Véronique Desbrosses said the following: “Authors are at the heart of the value chain of the cultural and creative industry, which provides 7.1 millions jobs, and could provide even more with appropriate policies in place. On the other hand, the online services describing themselves as mere intermediaries do not play fairly and do not remunerate creation as they should. This has to be fixed urgently in the EU copyright law”.

For more information :

Véronique Desbrosses, General Manager
Tel: 02 511 44 54
veronique.desbrosses@gesac.org

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

13 April 2015 – A coalition of creators from all creative sectors and geographic regions has addressed the shortcomings in MEP Julia Reda’s draft report on the adaptation of the Copyright Directive. CISAC creators outlined their views on the Report in a letter addressed to MEP Julia Reda and copied to all Members of the European Parliament, on the eve of its discussion by the Parliament.

The letter was signed by CISAC’s President Jean Michel Jarre and Vice Presidents Angélique Kidjo, Javed Akhtar, Marcelo Piñeyro and Ousmane Sow on behalf of the nearly four million creators that the Confederation represents.

> Letter to MEP Reda