Writers Guild of Ireland » EU

EU Agrees Unwaivable Right to Fair Remuneration

Maura McHugh — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 16:03:30 +0000

This a joint press release from FERA, FSE, and SAA on “European Copyright: Parliament committees vote for an unwaivable right to fair remuneration for audiovisual authors.”

Today, the European Parliament Industry and Culture committees voted in favour of an unwaivable right to fair remuneration for authors and performers for the making available of their works. Supported by the European audiovisual authors’ community, such a remuneration right would ensure that screenwriters and directors receive royalties when their works are exploited on on-demand services, wherever in Europe, thanks to its collective mechanism.

The ITRE committee opinion, drafted by Polish ECR MEP Zdislaw Krasnodebski, was adopted including such an unwaivable right to fair remuneration introduced by S&D MEPs led by British MEP Theresa Griffin with the support from across the political spectrum. Drafted by French EPP MEP Marc Joulaud, the Culture committee adopted a compromise amendment with a similar positive provision for authors and performers based on amendments introduced by S&D, EPP and Greens but undermined by a possible derogation for original agreements which would raise the costs and sap the functioning of any collective agreement. Taking into account the weak individual bargaining power of audiovisual authors, such a derogation is not justified and will need to be reexamined.

The SAA encourages the European Council and the lead committee in the European Parliament, the Legal Affairs Committee, to support and adopt ITRE’s unwaivable right to remuneration.

The Legal Affairs committee, will discuss the Copyright Directive tomorrow and vote after the summer. The Council Intellectual Property Working Party held a meeting on this issue yesterday.

Quotes:

Cécile Despringre, SAA Executive Director said “The Culture and Industry opinions sends a clear and powerful message to the European Parliament’s lead committee and the Council. They have recognized that Europe’s screenwriters and directors must be financially rewarded when their works are successful online and have adopted the appropriate provisions to make sure that happens.“

Pauline Durand-Vialle, FERA Chief Executive added “The unwaivable right to fair remuneration received support from across the political spectrum this morning. It’s great to see the European Parliament stepping up in support of the audiovisual creative community.“

David Kavanagh, FSE Executive Officer said “This Directive is a unique opportunity to bring fairness to audiovisual authors by allowing them to share in the economic success of their works online: let’s hope this step forward in the EU Parliament paves the way for positive discussions in the Council.”

FERA – Founded in 1980, the Federation of European Film Directors contains 39 directors’ associations from 29 countries. It speaks for approximately 20,000 European screen directors, representing their cultural, creative and economic interests both in Brussels and in the Member States. www.filmdirectors.eu @Film_directors

FSE – The Federation of Screenwriters Europe is a network of national and regional associations, guilds and unions of writers for the screen in Europe, created in June 2001. It comprises 25 members from 20 countries, representing more than 7,000 writers in Europe. www.scenaristes.com @ScreenwritersEU

SAA – Founded in 2010, the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) is the association of European collective management organisations representing audiovisual authors. Its 31 members in 23 countries manage rights for over 120,000 film, television and multimedia European screenwriters and directors. www.saa-authors.eu @saabrussels

New EU Copyright Proposal

Maura McHugh — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 23:09:09 +0000

In relation to its Digital Single Market strategy, the European Commission delivered today a proposal to allow Europeans to travel with their online content and an action plan to modernise EU copyright rules.

At present, Europeans travelling within the EU may be cut off from online services providing films, sports broadcasts, music, e-books or games that they have paid for in their home country. Today’s proposed Regulation on the cross-border portability of online content services addresses these restrictions in order to allow EU residents to travel with the digital content they have purchased or subscribed to at home. Cross-border portability, a new EU right for consumers, is expected to be a reality in 2017, the same year as the end of roaming charges in the EU (press release). Since it is a proposal for a Regulation, once adopted it will be directly applicable in all 28 EU Member States.

In addition, the Commission today outlines its vision of a modern EU copyright framework. This “political preview” will be translated into legislative proposals and policy initiatives in the next six months, taking into account all inputs from several public consultations.

The SAA, FERA, and FSE have broadly welcomed the European Commission’s commitment to go beyond political declarations and take action on authors’ remuneration.

They said:

In addition to action on authors’ remuneration, the Commission’s communication Towards a modern, more European copyright framework rightly identifies other areas where it can make a difference:

Effective enforcement: tackling commercial-scale piracy, which discourages new businesses based on the online exploitation of protected works that are essential to the development of the European online content market;
Fostering accessibility, availability and circulation of European works through a range of measures using the review of the Satellite and Cable Directive, the Creative Europe programme and, although not mentioned in the Communication, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive review.

Furthermore, the Commission’s communication shows that copyright and authors’ rights are certainly not broken but can be adapted in specific areas to cope with the challenges of the online environment. SAA, FERA and FSE welcome the fact that the Commission does not directly question the territoriality principle and recognizes the flexibility of copyright and authors’ rights to adapt to any market structure and business model, whether territorial or pan-European.

However, some measures could still inadvertently question the territoriality principle and need to be reconsidered. While we can support portability of subscription-based online content services, poor drafting that would not limit the portability in time could allow cross-border access through the back door. The same applies to a unified copyright title, considered as the long-term goal by the Commission, and any review of the Satellite and Cable Directive that seeks to extend the country of origin mechanism of direct satellite broadcasting to online transmissions.

In addition, cross-border access still seems to be mistaken for the silver bullet to enhance accessibility of European works. While FERA, FSE and SAA support the objective of improved circulation of European works, we consider that only active promotion which brings European works to European citizens’ direct environment will make a difference in a highly competitive market dominated by Hollywood productions.

Finally, we are surprised by the inclusion of private copying levies in the communication and the negative approach. This sits in stark contrast to the European Parliament’s 2014 resolution which underlined the continued relevance of the system to the digital age and its importance to Europe’s creators. It also seems to contradict the Commission’s insistence that authors’ remuneration is one of its priorities. The levy system is a virtuous cycle, which provides freedom to copy for consumers, a contribution from manufacturers and importers who sell copy-making devices and fair compensation for creators.

Barbara Hayes, Chair of the SAA board of directors said:
“Action on authors’ remuneration is very much linked to the fostering of a sustainable online marketplace for European works by enabling screenwriters and directors to receive continued royalties for previous works while working on the development of future projects.”

Cécile Despringre, Executive Director of the SAA added:
“We do not understand the Commission’s long-term vision of a unified copyright title as if it was in its DNA to harmonise everything. This simplistic and bureaucratic vision is in clear contradiction with the EU’s political motto “United in diversity” which acknowledges exactly what the EU is about.”

Pauline Durand-Vialle, CEO of FERA said:
“Any actual improvement of authors’ remuneration will require a thorough approach by the Commission based on improved contractual practices as well as increased collective bargaining and collective management of rights”

Here are some responses from members of Creativity Works!:

David Kavanagh, Executive Officer, Federation of Screenwriters in Europe, said:
“Authors are at the roots of the creative industries’ value chain. We are hopeful that the European Commission will promote a legal environment with fair remuneration of all right holders safeguarding creativity and ensuring the continued investments which are vital to Europe’s economy.”

Anne Bergman, Director of the Federation of European Publishers, said:
“Exceptions to copyright need to be just that – exceptions, not the rule. It’s a positive sign that the Commission says it will take market specificities and existing practices into account regarding exceptions to copyright. The current system enables respect for cultural and national diversity, flexibility and an appropriate degree of EU harmonization and has led to more creative works being available than ever before. Licences can and are already addressing many issues. Any new exception would therefore have to be justified by very strong evidence of market failure, and consider the incentives for investments by writers, publishers and booksellers in order to ensure the creation, publishing and distribution of new books.”

For a Thousand Lives

Maura McHugh — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 18:02:30 +0000

For a Thousand Lives: Be Human is a petition created by Nathalie Borgers (Austrian filmmaker) & Ursula Wolschlager (Belgian documentary filmmaker) as an appeal from European Film Professionals to Governments and to the EU to to take immediate action in relation to the current refugee crisis.

Every day, people fleeing war, terror, political persecution and misery are drowning in the sea, suffocating in the back of a truck or tumbling to their death in ports or train stations in their desperate attempts to reach Europe. According to Amnesty International, more than 23.000 people have lost their lives that way since 2000.

To make matters worse, those who reach Europe often find themselves in degrading living conditions and are subjected to inhumane treatment. The EU is spending up to twenty times more money on border control, than on welcoming centres for refugees.

The past tragedies have already led to a change in attitude for many people as can be witnessed in countless acts of personal compassion as well as public demonstrations of solidarity. Sadly, most official politicians seem to be all too slow in accepting the existence of a humanitarian crisis and finding life-sustaining solutions.

This petition is on part of the European film industry to remind the European Union that it was founded “on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities (…) in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.” (Article 2, Treaty on European Union 2008)

If you agree with these sentiments, please add your signature to the 3,500 European film professionals who have already signed the For a Thousand lives online petition, which you can sign here.

The future of MEDIA

Maura McHugh — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:16:55 +0000

Funding for the MEDIA Programme is secure until the end of 2013, but the future of the MEDIA Programme after 2013 needs to be decided.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the future of EU funding for the audiovisual sector after 2013. The deadline for contributions to the consultation is 30 November 2010.

In 2011, the Commission intends to adopt a draft Decision of the European Parliament and Council establishing a post-2013 funding programme. This new programme will help achieve the objectives of the new Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The purpose of the public consultation is to gather views from all relevant stakeholders of the audiovisual sector in Europe: distributors, producers, exhibitors, sales agents, training providers, public organisations and others. Views are sought regarding the objectives, activities, and types of support within the new programme.

One area of particular interest in the consultation concerns how the MEDIA Programme’s objectives and action lines should be revised in the light of technological, financial, social and other recent developments in order to ensure that they remain as relevant, clear and focused as possible.

The Commission is also interested in consulting on management aspects of the programme in this context.

The consultation is available online and only takes a few minutes to complete, so it could not be easier to submit your views.