It has become a tradition that at the start of a new Presidency our General Secretary writes a letter to the active head of State to inform the new Presidency on what matters for performers.
Today, a letter was sent to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Read the full letter below.
Dear Ms. Frederiksen,
Dear Prime Minister of Denmark,
Today the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union officially starts. For the next six months Denmark will be responsible for the successful start of an ambitious trio program with Poland and Cyprus.
AEPO-ARTIS is a non-profit making organisation that represents 41 European performers’ collective management organisations from 30 different countries, including the Danish organisations Filmex and Gramex. The number of performers, from the audio and audiovisual sector, represented by our network is estimated at more than 650.000.
We see – like we’ve seen with many Presidencies before you – an extensive cultural program. And with good reason! Denmark can be proud of its cultural sector. With musicians like Efterklang, Trentemøller, Volbeat, Bryan Rice, Aqua, Alphabeat, Fagget Fairys and Kundo Denmark has top players in every genre. With series like Kastanjemanden, Forbrydelsen, Broen and Borgen, your actors have brought the Danish language into the households of every European country. And with movies like Flow, Jagten, Druk, Babette’s Feast, In a Better World and of course Festen, there is no prize that Denmark has not brought home yet.
It is therefore not surprising that we read in the Presidency programme that the intrinsic value of culture will be highlighted.
It is however surprising that the programme does not mention any initiative to improve the actual position of our performers, the musicians and actors who are the human ambassadors of our cultural heritage, our cultural present and our cultural future. Surprisingly, because there is certainly much that Europe urgently needs to address in terms of protecting our performers and more specifically their neighbouring rights as actor, recording musician or dancer.
Let’s start with fair remuneration. On 13 May – during the Council meeting of Ministers of Culture – the Danish delegation declared “that fair remuneration for all right holders will be one of the focus points of the upcoming Danish Presidency.”
The statement was made as part of a discussion on how to better safeguard the protection of copyright and related rights in Artificial Intelligence development and was applauded by performers across the Union. With the disappointing trajectory of drafting a Code of Practice for GenAI providers and the lack of a proper transparency template, they look forward with hope to the work that the Danish Presidency will carry out on this matter to ensure that all performers are remunerated.
As important as the debate on AI is, the Danish Presidency should not limit its focus on fair remuneration to the current and all-consuming debate on AI. With the assessment of the 2019 CDSM or “Copyright directive” due for 2026, we expect the Danish Presidency to put a thorough analysis of the effective impact of its Chapter 3 high on the agenda and insist that the assessment is done rigorously and that its results will be published with absolute transparency.
The principle of fair remuneration was introduced to protect our performers from buyouts and unfair contractual practices used by producers and guarantee them a fair share of the revenue their work generates on streaming services and social media platforms. Too many member states, including Denmark, have not made use of the possibility the directive offers to introduce specific mechanisms, such as unwaivable remuneration rights, to protect performers. Meanwhile, the gap between powerful global market players and our individual European artists is widening.
Even within the performer’s community gaps exist, legal gaps. During the Danish Presidency the Commission will finally publish its report on the assessment of the 2011 Term Extension directive, a report that was supposed to be submitted to the Council and the Parliament by November 2016. This directive extended the term of protection for musicians to 70 years but kept the protection of actors at 50 years. An incomprehensible discrimination that cannot be justified by any argument, especially when you know that the performances of both often come together in one and the same work.
We expect the Council, under the Danish Presidency, together with the Parliament, to approve this report only if it contains a proposal to eliminate all existing discriminations between musicians and actors.
Lastly, we expect the Danish Presidency to finally get the Commission to ratify the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances. This WIPO treaty, which the European Union signed in 2013, aims at improving the worldwide protection of performers in the audiovisual sector. A unique moment for the EU to show that it puts the position of its performers first. Despite 12 years having passed and despite claiming full competence on this Treaty, the Commission has not done anything to prepare the ratification. We expect the Danish Presidency to push the Commission to take up its responsibility and provide a first draft before the end of December.
It may seem like a long list of demands, but we are confident that the Danish love of culture is strong enough to complete this challenge. We remain at your disposal should you have any questions.
On behalf of every performer whose work you have ever appreciated.
Med største respekt,
Ioan KAES
General-Secretary
AEPO-ARTIS
