News

Now that we are over the half-way point of this year, we look back at some of the highlights of 2013 so far:

January       Author society CEO speaks to leading French publication on cultural sector and its contribution to economy

Jean-Noël Tronc, Director General of Sacem, spoke to leading French publication Les Echos about the financial contribution of the creative industries to the French economy and the role of Sacem as a non-profit cooperative organisation representing creators across the creative sector.

You can read the full article here.

February       Author societies speak out against Vitorino recommendations

A coalition of organisations representing authors, performers and producers challenged the recommendations made by Antonio Vitorino on private copying.

Mr Vitorino’s recommendations demonstrated a serious misunderstanding of the private copying system, depriving consumers of their ability to legally make copies for private purposes and obliging rightsholders to negotiate the remuneration for private copies (which normally falls under an “exception” that cannot be negotiated) in the purchase price of the digital content, leading to an increase of the prices to the detriment of consumers.

Later in July, two judgements delivered by the EU Court on different cases confirmed that several of Mr Vitoriono’s recommendations were not in conformity with EU law.

March    Marielle Gallo publishes working document on Collective Rights Management

Marielle Gallo, rapporteur on the Collective Rights Management Directive, published her working document on site of the European Parliament.

Months later, On 9 July, the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee unanimously adopted Marielle Gallo’s report on the collective management of copyright.

April      EU Court backs author societies

The European Court of Justice overturned allegations that European author societies coordinated to restrict competition. By upholding their appeal against the 2008 European Commission decision, the ECJ confirmed that CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, and its members had not engaged in uncompetitive concerted practices to restrict competition.

May       European Parliament votes to exclude culture from EU-US trade deal

In Strasbourg, the European Parliament voted in favour of excluding the cultural and creative industries from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Agreement. 381 of those present voted in favour of excluding these sectors from the potential deal; 191 voted against and 17 abstained.

This decision was backed by Europe’s trade ministers in June and marks a great victory for cultural and creative sectors.

June    World Creators Summit

On June 4 & 5, 700 of the world’s leading creative stakeholders, including authors, industry figures and regulators gathered in Washington for the World Creators Summit.

Over the two days of the conference, 95 speakers mulled ways to ensure a fair and sustainable environment for the creative sector.

More about the event.

July  CRM Directive Report of the European Parliament voted in Legal Affairs Committee

The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee unanimously adopted Marielle Gallo’s report on the collective management of copyright. The creators of this platform welcomed the favourable vote, and urged the European Union institutions to address the outstanding issues and rapidly finalise the legislative process.

On 9 July, the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee unanimously adopted Marielle Gallo’s report on the collective management of copyright.

Here’s our pick of stakeholder comments on the vote:

Koda’s annual report for 2012 bears witness to the society’s tremendous economic growth. By raising its overall income whilst ensuring that costs stay the same,  Koda worked hard last year to ensure that its members receive as much remuneration as possible.

Niels Rosing-Schow, Chairman of Koda’s Board of Directors, commented “Koda’s outcome of 2012 is very impressive. The total income of EUR 95 million is of crucial importance to the  Danish music scene and ensures that large payments can be made to the songwriters and composers represented by Koda,”

Not content with this success, Koda is now carrying out a comprehensive review of Koda’s rules and distribution of funds – ultimately aiming to make them even simpler, more efficient, and more transparent.

You can read the full report here.

You can browse the Koda site here.

Four French author societies have struck a landmark deal with ARTE, the European cultural channel.

The deal will allow ARTE to increase the range of programmes it makes available to viewers while safeguarding the rights of the creators at the heart of these broadcasts.

Commenting on the agreement, Jean-Noël Tronc, CEO of SACEM said:  “This renewable agreement attests to our common will to support the adaptation of television to new uses. It demonstrates once again that authors’ rights and collective management are efficient tools in the era of digital innovation.”

Read the full release.