News

				
					
									
										18 October 2013									
								

									Teosto and YouTube Reach a Deal For Music
									Press release: Finnish music creators, composers and authors to benefit financially from having their videos on YouTube
Helsinki, Finland, 18th October 2013
YouTube and Finnish-based music creators’ rights organization Teosto, representing 27 000 Finnish music authors and publishers,  today announced a licensing agreement that will allow Finnish and international music creators, composers and authors to earn revenue in Finland on YouTube.
It allows rightsholders and affiliates represented by Teosto to be paid when their music is accessed on YouTube in Finland. Revenue is generated when advertisements are displayed against YouTube partner’s videos and Fan Picked Videos.
“YouTube is one of the most popular music services in Finland. It’s very important that music creators are now also compensated from YouTube usage in Finland. We feel that streaming services will be an even more important channel for music in the future and this license agreement with YouTube is also in this respect an important milestone”, says Teosto´s CEO Katri Sipilä.
“We are extremely pleased to have reached an agreement with Teosto that enables music artists, composers and authors to receive payments for videos on YouTube in Finland”, says Gudrun Schweppe, Head of Music Publishing at YouTube in EMEA. “It’s also a big win for the YouTube community, to whom listening to music and discovering new local artists on YouTube is an important part of their online experience.”
Throughout Europe, YouTube is succeeding in securing mutually beneficial agreements with associations representing composers and authors and has deals in place with a number of music creators’ rights organizations, including with PRS for Music in the UK, SGAE in Spain, SIAE in Italy, SACEM in France, AKM in Austria and SUISA in Switzerland.
About Teosto:
Teosto is a non-profit organisation founded in 1928 by composers and music publishers to administrate and protect their rights. It represents more than 27 000 Finnish and almost three million foreign composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers. Teosto´s mission is to enable successful professional music-making in Finland. In 2012, Teosto’s sales revenue amounted to EUR 46.3 million, of which, after deducting expenses, 86.6% is distributed to composers, lyricists, arrangers and publishers.
About YouTube: 
YouTube is the world’s most popular online video community allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share original videos.  YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC is based in San Bruno, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.
Press contacts:
Teosto
Tomi Korhonen, director of Communications and PR
+358 50 4499575
tomi.korhonen@teosto.fi
YouTube
Timo Nurmi, press contact for YouTube in Finland
+358 50 3493597
timo.nurmi@freud.fi
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										18 October 2013									
								

									Author Societies: Two Spanish initiatives to follow
									Want to know more about author societies’ activities in Spain? Here are two good sources of information:
The think tank Instituto Autor, which was created by Spanish author society SGAE, is a dynamic institution that leads the debate on a number of important topics for authors in Spain and beyond.
The association for the development of intellectual property rights (ADEPI) was recently created by a number of Spanish author societies in order to join forces on promoting the interests of creators and collective management societies.
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										14 October 2013									
								

									European Authors’ and Performers’ Organisations Welcome Draft Report On Private Copying Levies
									European Authors’ and Performers’ Organisations Welcome Draft Report On Private Copying Levies
Brussels, October 10 2013. We, the undersigned European organisations, who give voice and visibility to the concerns of hundreds of thousands of professional authors and performers who make a living in the creative industries, warmly welcome the draft report by Ms Francoise Castex MEP on private copying levies.
This draft initiative report of the European Parliament comes a few months after Mr Vitorino’s recommendations on the future of private copying. These were mainly based on the concerns of the importers of IT products subject to the payment of levies (all of which are made outside the EU, as there are no manufacturers in Europe anymore) and did not take into account the concerns of European authors and performers.
Ms Castex’s approach rightly underlines that “culture and artistic creation form the bedrock of the European identity past and present” and that the “private copying system is a virtuous system that balances the right to copying for private use with fair remuneration to rightholders, and that it is a system worth preserving”. Ms Castex therefore calls on Member States and the Commission to modernise the system and agree on common principles so that private copying levies can continue to provide an invaluable source of income for authors and performers, secure the freedom to copy for consumers and guarantee that those who benefit from the exception through the sales of copy-enabling products also contribute to cultural diversity.
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										11 October 2013									
								

									Collecting Societies Form Online Alliance
									This article has been reproduced from PRS for Music Magazine
 
M meets the chief executives of PRS for Music, GEMA and STIM who are coming together to revolutionise the way their collecting societies handle online music licensing and digital royalty payments. They reveal how the partnership, which is based around the creation of a processing and a licensing ‘hub’, will keep pace with the digital music explosion and deliver universal benefits for members.
What is the current view from your society?
Robert Ashcroft (PRS for Music):

Here at PRS for Music, recorded music remains an important part of our business, even though it’s in sharp decline. We have to consolidate our systems to find the economies of scale needed to continue to provide this important royalty source to members. Meanwhile, the world of online is a growing part of our business. We processed 126 billion online music usages last year and are going to be dealing with trillions of usages before too long. We are working with STIM and GEMA to form a consolidated back office hub to be able to deal with these kinds of volumes.
Dr Harald Heker (GEMA):

I would agree with Robert. The driving force at GEMA is online music use and its exploding volumes. We need convincing technical solutions that allow for the processing of higher volumes and we trust that we can build them better by using the expertise and experience of three like-minded partners.
Kenth Muldin (STIM):

Music is one of the most consumed digital cultural expressions in the world. Here at STIM we are excited about the fantastic potential that advanced technology brings to music distribution – in a way that ensures that creators get paid for the music they make, thus balancing out the digital age music economy. Our ambition is to create a more modern and cost-efficient management of music rights in Europe, to the benefit of rightsholders, businesses and music fans.
Why are you partnering on the hubs project?
KM:   I am very proud of this innovative partnership with two of the largest collecting societies in Europe and we can’t wait to launch it. I think we share two commonalities: firstly, a commitment to ensure all digital use of our members’ music is identified based on accurate authoritative data. Secondly, we strongly believe in the development of modern copyright processing systems that are able to match complex consumer behaviour with the continual evolution of new digital music services.
HH:    I believe there are two different sides to the hubs co-operation: the front office and the back office. Looking at these two parts together, I think that the hubs will create a rather unique combination of all partners’ particular individual strengths.
RA:    We know that, at present, music users may have to go to over 30 places to assemble all the licences they need to launch a pan-European digital music service. There is therefore a benefit for the user community in consolidating rights into a number of competing hubs – to have half a dozen as opposed to 30 would clearly make their lives easier. From our side, we understand it is a competitive market and negotiating rights through a hub serves the interests of all our members as well as those of music users.
What are the benefits of this strategy?
RA:    If you have a large block of rights you are more likely to be at the front of the queue when the deals are done, and that means you have the chance to be a price influencer as opposed to simply a price taker. It’s our responsibility in representing our members to seek to shape the deals and business models of the future and not just be price takers.
HH:    Through front office co-operation, there will be one point of contact for the repertoire block that all partners represent. That will clearly help us ensure our members receive their adequate share of remuneration. On the back office side, we will be able to develop new systems and processes together with PRS for Music and STIM which will reduce all our costs and extend the possible scope of such joint solutions.
KM:   Our hubs will provide access to millions of works for download, subscription and streaming services. The combined repertoire will be among the largest of its kind in Europe. Our joint aim is to make music licensing and royalty payments more efficient, encouraging market entry for legal services and allowing music lovers to enjoy music. But most of all, we strive to obtain a more transparent and efficient remuneration system that will result in more money when the music they create gets played.
What are the next steps?
RA:    We are seeking competition clearance for the hubs we have proposed in partnership with GEMA and STIM and, subject to the outcome, plan to launch next year.
HH:   Subject to this clearance, GEMA is ready to move on with the project in 2014.
KM:   Another step is to continuously explain the importance of copyright to the creators’ ability to make a living. Clearly defined, easy-to-apply and predictable legal rules enable rightsholders get paid for their work. I hope these hubs will have an impact on business provisions for online music across Europe, and perhaps also inspire other collecting societies to tag on to this development.
 
http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/news/collecting-societies-form-online-alliance/
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