The Reda report: a direct attack on authors

Representing over a million authors and rights holders, GESAC would like to speak out on behalf of its community, as it rightly worries about its future in light of the current copyright debate which is being overrun by false claims.

The draft report on the copyright modernisation by MEP Reda contains a large amount of threats to authors’ livelihoods. In fact, it serves the purpose of commercial operators and Internet giants rather than consumer needs and authors’ rights.

Here are some of the points proposed in this report:

  1. Hyperlinking is to be excluded from copyright[1]. Hyperlinking is a fundamental way of using the Internet and either including or excluding it entirely from copyright would be ignoring the fact that some content is copyright relevant and should provide income for its authors, just as some isn’t.
  2. Compensation for exceptions is to be put to an end[2]. This is like government expropriating your house to build a train line, but offering no compensation for a roof over your head in return.
  3. All 21 current optional exceptions are to be made compulsory[3], and quite a few more are to be added to the existing list[4], leaving local context or need entirely out of the equation.

In other words, the Reda report is without a doubt an outrageous attack on the rights of creators:

–         It seeks to limit the already problematically low income that can be generated from the Internet for authors.

–         It deprives authors of the compensation schemes that were put into place to alleviate the income gap created by some exceptions.

–         It adds more uncompensated and compulsory exceptions.

–         It expands most exceptions to commercial activities[5].

The report essentially deprives authors of yet more income and serves commercial purposes rather than consumer and authors’ rights.

Saying that this isn’t a Pirate vs. Artist report should be substantiated by facts only, not unsupported claims.

See what authors have to say about copyright, how it influences their careers, and the challenges they foresee in the coming years.

 

[1] Point 15 of the report

[2] Point 21 of the report

[3] Point 11 of the report

[4] Points 5, 9, 14, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 of the draft report extend the scope of the existing exceptions or introduce new ones.

[5] Points 16, 17, 18, 19 of the report extend the scope of exceptions to commercial use.