News

You’ve heard what we’ve had to say about the new proposal, but what is everyone else doing? Here are some highlights of press coverage from the European Commission’s copyright proposal…

EU OBSERVER, 11/07/2012 Michel Barnier, European Union commissioner for Internal Market and Services

Moving the single market for online music

Music is everywhere, and the digital age has only increased its presence. Today, (11 July) I am proposing a modernised system of collective rights management that will use the single market – the EU’s most powerful economic tool – to distribute music online. This is a crucial adaptation to the world we inhabit, a world in which both supply and demand are increasingly digitised.

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WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/07/2012

EU Aims to Ease Music-Licensing Rules

Copyright-collecting societies—the organizations that collect royalty payments from music, movies and books and distribute them to copyright holders—must adapt to an age of online music downloads, the European Commission said Wednesday as it laid out plans to modernize the industry.

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EUROPOLITICS, 12/07/2012. Nathalie Vandystadt 

 Long-awaited proposal on copyright

There will be no lack of intellectual property issues during the Cyprus Presidency. In addition to the European patent (see separate article), the initiative on collective management of copyright, due to be presented on 11 July, is likely to spark…

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INVEST IN EU, 12/07/2012 Eric Pfanner

Copyright: Commission proposes easier music licensing in the Single Market

The European Commission has today proposed measures to modernise collecting societies and put in place incentives to promote their transparency and efficiency.
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NEW YORK TIMES, 10/07/2012

Europe Moves to Aid Digital Music Industry

The European Commission plans to introduce legislation on Wednesday to bolster the digital music market in Europe by streamlining the methods of agencies that collect royalties on behalf of copyright holders.

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GESAC Press release

CISAC Press release

Over the summer months, stakeholders in Brussels will be mulling over the European Commission’s new proposal on collective rights management. Once September starts, our work begins in earnest as we get down to the nitty gritty of going through the proposal and helping the institutions carve out a final version that brings about real positive change for creators, consumers and cultural diversity in Europe.

As we’ve said before, we’re pleased that EU is taking steps to boost confidence in collective rights management. Why? Because ensuring transparency and good governance in author societies is in everyone’s interests – especially ours!

Festivals and cultural activities have become synonymous with the summer months. Author societies across Europe support these, and SGAE – the Spanish collective rights management society – is no exception. Getting involved in cultural events is an important element of how societies promote cultural diversity where they are based.

SGAE is enjoying a busy few months before autumn approaches. Here’s just a few of their cultural highlights:

On July 11, the European Commission laid out plans to fix harmonized rules on collective rights management societies in Europe, devising incentives to enhance their transparency and efficiency. The focus of the proposal is two-fold: first, it aims to improve the governance of collective rights management societies by strengthening their reporting obligations and boosting right holders’ control over their activities. It also aims to facilitate the cross-border, multi repertoire licensing of music for online use in Europe.

We’ve waited a long time for this proposal – and we’re happy to have something on paper.   But does the draft Directive in its current form answers the needs of authors’ societies? We are not so sure.