News

Earlier this year, we were delighted to hear Michel Barnier – European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services – describe copyright as ‘the engine behind the diversity, the creativity and the innovation which can be delivered to us all through the internet’.

In these few words, Mr Barnier encapsulates the importance of copyright. As consumers, we’ve seen great strides taking place over the last few decades thanks to the internet – from devices like tablets to services such as YouTube. In amidst all this – overwhelmingly positive – change, copyright has been the constant: it’s the crucial element that ensures the benefits we enjoy do not adversely affect the livelihoods of the creators we love.

We’ve written before about the importance of improving the implementation of authors’ rights and neighbouring rights. We know there are gaps to be filled, and we welcome efforts to improve the governance of author societies with open arms.

Where we can’t be flexible is on reform to the phasing out creators’ rights. In fact, we argue that copyright has never been as crucial as it is today.

Where next indeed?  This week saw authors, industry, policy-makers and collective rights management societies gather together to mull the draft directive and the way forward for Collective Rights Management in Europe.    

Since the draft proposal came out in July, it seems as though everyone in Brussels has been talking about Collective Rights Management.

On Tuesday – at an event pulled together by Gesac (organiser of this web platform) in collaboration with the news service, EUObserver – some of the debate’s leading stakeholders mulled some of the key issues of the debate – and whether the directive in its current form goes far enough to answer existing problems.

The event drew a vast crowd from Brussels and beyond – from policy-makers, collective management societies and industry to, crucially, creators themselves. On this issue, it seems, everyone has something to say.

On 20 November the European Parliament adopted in plenary session a Resolution on the implementation of the Directive on artists’ resale right.

GESAC – the organisation behind this platform – welcomes this Resolution which highlights the importance of resale right to artists and their successors-in-title and the significant contribution the art market makes to the global economy.

Authors of graphic, plastic and photographic arts derive most of their income from sales of original works.   Resale right allows creators and their heirs to participate in the economic success of their works on the art market by receiving a share of the transaction prices. Resale right which is an author’s right recognized by the Berne Convention is also a major source of information for artists to see how their career is progressing, sale by sale.

The European Parliament rightly stresses that the resale right guarantees continuity of pay for artists, who very often sell their works at low prices at the start of their careers.

GESAC Director General Véronique Desbrosses said: The harmonisation of the resale right at EU level has been largely beneficial for artists. As the market is globalizing, it is time now to extend this crucial right to other key arts markets such as China and the USA and, as stressed by the European Parliament,  to strengthen the European art market’s position in the world”.