News

Further reflections on the European proposals of 14 September 2016 to introduce fairer sharing of the value when works and other protected material are made available by electronic means

• Renowned French visual artist Daniel Buren presented a petition to Commission Vice-President Ansip today.
• The petition, signed by some 20,000 creators, calls on the Commission to end the economic and legal loophole that platforms like YouTube have been wrongfully taking advantage of these past years.
• The loophole results in a transfer of value from creators to tech giants, draining Europe of its creative potential.

The past few months have revealed increasingly aggressive and even offensive attacks from opponents of the Copyright Directive, mostly consisting of organisations more or less tightly linked to Google. Although we refuse to launch similar attacks, we feel obliged to at least respond to some of the worst or most inaccurate claims made, and hopefully move on to a healthier debate.

GESAC welcomes the result of the vote that was held today in plenary on the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) report on the Broadcasting Regulation (also referred to as SatCab). The work of the different Committees in charge of drafting the opinions and report on the Regulation was further validated by this Plenary vote. It gives the Legal Affairs Committee the mandate to start negotiations with the Council and the Commission on the Regulation, thereby signalling the Parliament’s willingness to take the concerns of European creators seriously and act accordingly.