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Say No to the dismantling of your rights in Europe! The European Commission consultation on copyright is now closed but you can still sign the Creators’ petition:

http://www.creatorsforeurope.eu/en/

The future of culture, creators and cultural industries in Europe depends on the outcome of a consultation on copyright being conducted by the European Commission with a deadline for submissions of 5 March 2014. 

We want Europe to make culture a priority.

We want Europe to give culture its true place at the heart of the European economy.

We want European Institutions, candidates, political parties and heads of State to say Yes to culture in Europe, Yes to millions of jobs, Yes to the artists and Yes to the people of Europe, who could not breathe without culture in their lives.

We want them to sustain and develop the cultural industries, which depend on copyright to sustain millions of jobs and secure millions of livelihoods.

Today, we urge you, the citizens of the European Union, to voice your views and to sign this petition, which will be sent to the President of the Commission and to Commissioners, who will soon present a White Paper.

On 27^th February the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave its judgment in Case C‑351/12, OSA v Léčebné lázně, a reference for preliminary ruling asked by a  Czech court in 2012.  The case concerns a dispute between the Czech authors’ society OSA (so-called collecting societies or CMOs) and a residential spa establishment which gave access to broadcast works through TV and radio sets in the bedrooms of its residents.

In its judgment, the CJEU reaffirmed the crucial role played by the authors’ societies to protect the interests of the rightholders they represent. It confirmed that the obligations provided in article 16 of the 2006 services directive on the freedom to provide services are not applicable to CMOs. The Court also underlined the important role played by OSA as the only authors’ society to protect the rights of all rightholders within the Czech Republic and concluded that the monopoly granted by the Czech legislation to OSA for this kind of usages  is compatible with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, since there is no other method allowing the same level of copyright protection.

Today the European Parliament has adopted Ms. Castex’s report on Private Copying Levies with 252 votes in favour, 122 against and 15 abstentions. No change was made in respect of the version adopted by the JURI Committee on the 11^th of February.

GESAC welcomes the adoption of this report as it underlines the virtuous system behind private copying levies and identifies where it needs to evolve to match future consumers’ expectations.

The report also casts a shadow over the UK’s attempts to introduce the private copying exception without any fair compensation for rightholders and the Spanish government’s inexplicable decision to give a 115m€ discount to device manufacturers and importers while further challenging an already stretched public purse and failing to guarantee a drop in prices to consumers.

On behalf of Michel Barnier, Commissioner Šemeta stated that the European Commission will take note of the Castex’s report and especially its points of  divergences from Vitorino’s recommendations published on the 31^st of January 2013.

We applaud the European politicians for their support to this important compensation scheme for creators and for their efforts to strike a political balance, even if some elements could have been better reflected.

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For further information:
Authors and Performers’ press release on the adoption of the report by the JURI Committee on 11 February

What is CISAC? And what’s its role and function? In this short video you will find all your answers!

CISAC 2014 Video : Watch and download!

CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, works towards increased recognition and protection of creators’ rights. CISAC was founded in 1926 and is a non-governmental, non-profit organization.