27 March 2020

PRESS RELEASE: GESAC welcomes EU support initiatives for COVID-19

GESAC welcomes the European Parliament and Council approval of €37 billion in funds to address social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also welcome the European Commission’s framework for state aid measures that specifically mentions the cultural sector.

Read below for our full press release.

COVID-19: GESAC welcomes the EU support initiatives, including for culture, and reiterates that funds must also reach individual creators

Brussels 27 March 2020 – European authors’ societies welcome the European Parliament’s approval of the Coronavirus Response Investment initiative, which will provide €37 billion to help address social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GESAC also welcomes the EU Commission’s “Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak”. The framework requests a relaxation of state rules to support businesses and heeds GESAC’s call for the special mentioning of the cultural sector.

Point 15 of the document specifies that Member States can “compensate undertakings in sectors that have been particularly hit by the outbreak (e.g. transport, tourism, culture, hospitality and retail)”.

This initiative is a positive start that will enable Member States to provide funds to bolster the resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises in the cultural sector. Cultural and creative businesses are among those struggling the most in this pandemic, given their heavy reliance on public gatherings.

However, it is essential that the individual creators at the heart of the sector get access to financial support.

In our statement to EU decision-makers on 25 March, we stressed the critical nature of the situation. Many of Europe’s creators face the prospect of months without any income.

GESAC’s General Manager, Véronique Desbrosses, says: “Creators are the heart and soul of the creative sector. They are also the basis of a value chain that provides jobs and growth. Their individual well-being is a sign of the sector’s well-being. By highlighting the vulnerability of creators, the Commission can help ensure that the life force behind Europe’s unique culture and cultural economy is protected. All funds and initiatives towards the creative sector must reach the individual creators as well.”

Policies

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence brings about many new opportunities for our lives, including in the field of culture and creativity, but its applications also raise a number of ethical and legal questions due to their wide-spread uncontrolled and unchecked usage.

Policies

Music Streaming

Music streaming has unquestionably become the predominant means of enjoying music, replacing traditional physical media and expanded far beyond the live sector by providing user-friendly, high quality, and affordable access to the largest possible repertoire anytime, anywhere, online, or offline.

Songs and compositions are at the heart of this thriving market, which counts 524 million users on subscription-based music services globally, reaches more than 2 billion users including the streaming on UGC platforms, and offers more than 70 million tracks from approximately 8 million artists.

Yet, the authors and composers cannot benefit adequately from this success, and the debate over unfairness of this market is gaining traction across Europe and around the world.

There is a need to look more closely at how songwriters and composers are connected to this thriving economy and what can be done to improve their currently neglected situation.

Read below to find out more about the Music Streaming market.

Policies

Buy-out contracts: a dangerous threat to European creators

European music creators (composers, lyricists etc.) are being forced to forsake thousands of euros in future earnings by draconian ‘work made for hire’ (WMH) and buy-out contracts.

Online audiovisual services and broadcasters that are mainly US-based are forcing music creators to accept such contracts, which enforce a one-time payment in exchange for their rights.

Given the worldwide popularity of shows and series on platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Disney etc., and their replay value, the audiovisual market represents an important revenue stream for creators. Soundtracks alone are part and parcel of series and often attract a similar amount of popularity, massively boosting sales, streams and the worldwide fanbase of their authors.

Read below to find out how video on demand (VOD) platforms and broadcasters are circumventing EU law and what can be done about it.

Policies

Authors’ societies & the collective management model

Authors’ societies are hugely beneficial to both authors (creators), users (platforms and services), and the broader public.

Beyond benefiting these different groups, authors’ societies also support the broader cultural ecosystem by funding and promoting cultural and creative initiatives.

Below are five key benefits to authors’ societies and the collective management model.

Policies

The Copyright Directive

In April 2019, the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market was formally adopted, a change that will positively transform authors’ rights throughout the EU. Each member state now has until 7 June 2021 to transpose the Directive into their respective national law.

This reform is an opportunity to address pressing issues for authors in the Digital Single Market and will promote the growth of Europe’s creative and cultural industries (CCIs) – a major driver of Europe’s economy.

One of the biggest achievements of this new piece of legislation was to address the
‘Transfer of Value’ problem, a priority issue for all European creators.

Below are some of the Directive’s key areas that will affect creators and those who profit from their work.