20 December 2012

Seasons Greetings from everyone at authorsocieties.eu!

We’d like to thank everyone who has visited our site in 2012 – it’s been quite a year for author societies.eu since our site was launched in April!

Here are some of our highlights:

DECEMBER

Q & A with MEP Marielle Gallo

Marielle Gallo is Member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party and Rapporteur for the Collective Rights Management Directive. She shares her views on the development of the new legislation.
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Getting copyright reform right

Ahead of a high-level debate on copyright reform, authorsocieties.eu reflects that copyright has never been as crucial as it is today.
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NOVEMBER

Where next for Collective Rights Management in Europe?

Authorsocieties.eu hosts a high-profile event at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels.

Watch the video

OCTOBER

Authorsocieties.eu attends EPP hearing in the European Parliament

Many of the author societies we represent on this platform – as well as industry representatives such as Nokia and Spotify – gather in the European Parliament to share their views on the proposed Collective Rights Management Directive.
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SEPTEMBER

Declaration on Private Copying Remuneration – An essential source of income for Europe’s creators

‘Rightsholders have a right to authorise all reproduction of their works but have accepted reasonable exceptions to this right in the interest of the public and practicality provided they received remuneration for such acts. Rightsholders deserve to be fairly and proportionally remunerated for their work and all uses thereof. Private copying generates an essential part of rightsholders’ remuneration. Remuneration payable on the copying media and devices is the best way of linking the act of making private copies to the payment of remuneration to rightsholders. The current remuneration system, as applied in most European countries, is not intrusive and preserves the privacy of consumers.’
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AUGUST

Creators declare trust in author societies.

‘United we have the strength to safeguard our rights and negotiate fair remuneration for our work.’
This is the first line of SUISA’s manifesto in which its members declare their confidence in them.
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JULY

EU Commission initiative to propose a directive on collective rights management societies: GESAC press release

The European Commission lays 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.

More:
The right answer to the challenges faced by European authors’ societies?

Q&A with Véronique Desbrosses, General Manager of the European grouping of author societies, GESAC

Press release

JUNE

Q & A with Anton Reixa, new President of SGAE

Anton Reixa becomes the new President of the Spanish Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers (SGAE). He also takes on the functions of President of the Board of Directors and of the Administration Board, by majority decision of the new Board of Directors.

MAY

Cultural Ambassadors Project celebrates first anniversary in Brussels!

A year ago this month the Finnish Composers Copyright Society, Teosto, brought their ambitious Cultural Ambassadors Project to Brussels.
Anna Eriksson, a popular Finnish author and Cultural Ambassador in Brussels says ‘As a cultural Ambassador I act as a link between the world of politics and the everyday life of an author. I hope that my connection with MEPs stays active.’
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APRIL

Making a stand for authors’ rights

Gema – the German author society – goes to court on behalf of its members whose copyright-protected works had been made available on YouTube without their consent.
Not only was this unfair for the creators missing out on the revenue owed to them – it was illegal. And the Court agreed.
YouTube is now obliged take concrete action, like installing digital tracking footprints, to make sure that copyright-protected works do not appear on their service, upholding the rights of GEMA’s members.
More

We wish you all the best for 2013 and look forward to welcoming you back to authorsocieties.eu next year!

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.