On 17 November, AEPO-ARTIS held its annual (remote) seminar on performers and performers’ rights. This year’s seminar focused in particular on the implementation of article 18 of the 2019 Copyright Directive and how this article is an opportunity for Member States to rebalance the current streaming market in favour of performers, most of whom see no revenues made from these services flowing back to them.

As streaming has become the most common way of enjoying music, film or TV series for many consumers, the status quo is no longer acceptable and should be addressed during the implementation process of the 2019 Copyright Directive.
Representatives from the European Parliament, the Commission, academia as well as performers’ collective management organisations discussed the best possible ways forward how to “create a sustainable creative eco-system in Europe”.

A recording of the event is available above or alternatively may be accessed via the following link: AEPO-ARTIS Webinar 17 November 2020

Particularly interesting is the presentation of Professor Raquel Xalabarder (at 0:30:29 mins) and her recommendation for Member States to implement article 18 by introducing an unwaivable remuneration right for performers for on demand uses and paid by digital platforms, a system which is not new to EU law as was confirmed by Marco Giorello, head of the copyright unit at the European Commission, and which is already successfully working in Spain, as demonstrated by Jose Maria Montes, Vice President of AEPO-ARTIS without any negative impact on the market or on subscription fees of consumers.

The research of Professor Xalabarder can also be accessed clicking here.

AEPO-ARTIS Webinar 2020

On 17 November, AEPO-ARTIS shall host a free webinar on the subject of “Performers and performers’ rights: How can we create a sustainable creative eco-system in Europe?”

Performers are the backbone of Europe’s rich cultural and creative sector. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic reminds us just how fragile the creative ecosystem is, with many performers forced to consider giving up their profession as their art can no longer support them. Now more than ever, it is crucial that we strengthen the legal framework protecting performers.

Member States must now implement the 2019 EU Copyright Directive and in particular its article 18, which guarantees performers appropriate and proportionate remuneration – especially from streaming.

This webinar, brought to you by AEPO-ARTIS, will look at how this can be achieved.

• Programme outline
  Welcome by the President of AEPO-ARTIS, Tilo Gerlach, Managing Director, GVL
• Debate kick-off speech by MEP Niklas Nienaβ, Greens/EFA, European Parliament

Speakers

• Marco Giorello, Head of Copyright Unit, European Commission
• Professor Raquel Xalabarder, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain
• José María Montes, Director of Legal and International Affairs, AISGE/ Vice President, AEPO-ARTIS
• Bruno Boutleux, Managing Director, ADAMI

The debate is moderated by Dominic McGonigal, C8 Associates

For further information please contact the AEPO-ARTIS Secretariat aepo-artis@aepo-artis.org
+32 2 280 19 34

THE FAIR INTERNET COALITION WELCOMES THE ADOPTION OF THE COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE AS A FIRST, IMPORTANT STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN IMPROVING PERFORMERS’ RIGHTS

Brussels, 26 March 2019 I The FAIR INTERNET coalition representing over 500,000 musicians, singers, actors, dancers and other performing artists welcomes the European Parliament’s adoption of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.

Chapter III of this Directive includes provisions that constitute a first, encouraging step in the right direction, as they seek to increase transparency on contractual relations and level up the remuneration initially agreed, often little more than symbolic, with subsequent revenues. Most importantly, the Directive establishes that the remuneration of performers must be proportionate to the revenues generated by the exploitation of their work and that lump sum payments are to be the exception, rather than the rule.

Today, most performers are not remunerated when their performances are exploited via streaming and downloading platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Prime and Netflix. With little bargaining power, they often have no choice but to transfer all economic rights on those productions, in return for a one-off payment and regardless of how successful the exploitation is in the end. However, following today’s vote, Member States must now ensure that performers receive appropriate and proportionate remuneration, including for online exploitation.

To this end, the Directive clearly says that Member States may rely on different existing or newly-introduced mechanisms, including collective bargaining and other mechanisms. The FAIR INTERNET coalition calls on Member States to achieve this aim by introducing into their national systems a right to remuneration for making available on demand for performers paid by online platforms and subject to mandatory collective management.

The press release is available here: Fair Internet Coalition Statement On Adoption Of The Copyright Directive

For more information:
Contact person: Nicole Schulze (0487 25 09 51)
Our website: http://www.fair-internet.eu
To follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/FairInternet4P

Brussels, 18 February 2019, The FAIR INTERNET coalition representing over 500,000 musicians, singers, actors, dancers and other performing artists urges the Council and the Parliament to give their final approval to the compromise agreement reached at trilogue on the draft Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. Chapter III of this Directive includes provisions that constitute a first, encouraging step in the right direction, as they seek to increase transparency on contractual relations and level up the remuneration initially agreed, often little more than symbolic, with subsequent revenues. Most importantly, the trilogue compromise establishes that the remuneration of performers must be proportionate to the revenues generated by the exploitation of their work and that lump sum payments are to be the exception, rather than the rule.

Today, most performers are not remunerated when their performances are exploited via streaming and downloading platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Prime and Netflix. With little bargaining power, they often have no choice but to transfer all economic rights on those productions, in return for a one-off payment and regardless of how successful the exploitation is in the end.

According to Article -14 of the draft Copyright Directive, performers must now receive appropriate and proportionate remuneration, including for online exploitation. When implementing this new provision in their national legal systems, Member States will be responsible for making sure that performers finally get a fair share of the revenue generated from the exploitation of their work. To this end, the Directive clearly says that Member States may rely on different existing or newly-introduced mechanisms, including collective bargaining and other mechanisms.

The FAIR INTERNET coalition calls on Member States to achieve this aim by introducing into their national systems a right to remuneration for performers paid by online platforms and subject to mandatory collective management.

The press release is available here: Fair Internet Coalition Press Release

For more information please visit www.fair-internet.eu or contact
Nicole Schulze: +32 478 250 951

Brussels, 18 February 2019, The FAIR INTERNET coalition representing over 500,000 musicians, singers, actors, dancers and other performing artists urges the Council and the Parliament to give their final approval to the compromise agreement reached at trilogue on the draft Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.

Chapter III of this Directive includes provisions that constitute a first, encouraging step in the right direction, as they seek to increase transparency on contractual relations and level up the remuneration initially agreed, often little more than symbolic, with subsequent revenues. Most importantly, the trilogue compromise establishes that the remuneration of performers must be proportionate to the revenues generated by the exploitation of their work and that lump sum payments are to be the exception, rather than the rule.

Today, most performers are not remunerated when their performances are exploited via streaming and downloading platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Prime and Netflix. With little bargaining power, they often have no choice but to transfer all economic rights on those productions, in return for a one-off payment and regardless of how successful the exploitation is in the end. According to Article -14 of the draft Copyright Directive, performers must now receive appropriate and proportionate remuneration, including for online exploitation. When implementing this new provision in their national legal systems, Member States will be responsible for making sure that performers finally get a fair share of the revenue generated from the exploitation of their work. To this end, the Directive clearly says that Member States may rely on different existing or newly-introduced mechanisms, including collective bargaining and other mechanisms. The FAIR INTERNET coalition calls on Member States to achieve this aim by introducing into their national systems a right to remuneration for performers paid by online platforms and subject to mandatory collective management.

The press release is available here: Fair Internet Coalition Press Release

For more information please visit www.fair-internet.eu or contact
Nicole Schulze: +32 478 250 951

PRESS RELEASE: Brussels, 7 November 2018:
The Association of European Performers’ Organisations, AEPO-ARTIS, held its annual seminar dedicated to “EU Copyright Acquis: 25 years of harmonisation. What is working for performers and what is not?” on 7 November 2018.

The AEPO-ARTIS seminar, amongst other issues, took stock of the European Commission’s proposal For a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, which is now being discussed in trilogue between the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission.

In this regard, the fair remuneration of performers from on-demand services (iTunes, Netflix, Spotify, …) was at the heart of the discussion.

Supported by the findings of the 2018 AEPO-ARTIS study drawing upon data from 26 countries, available on the AEPO-ARTIS website, the economic situation of performers has barely changed after the introduction of the exclusive making available right in the 2001 Copyright Directive. The right is generally transferred in buy-out contracts to producers, with only few famous performers managing to negotiate the payment of royalties.

For most performers, however, this right has not been effective in practice despite the exponential growth of on demand streaming and download services, such as Spotify, iTunes and Netflix, in popularity, revenue and value. Performers are missing out of their fair share in this value uplift.

This is reflected in the findings of the AEPO-ARTIS study where it can be seen that in 2005, collections in respect of on demand services were effectively zero and by 2017, the amount collected by collective management organisations still only amounted to less than 2% of total collections. The EU law designed to protect and adequately reward performers has therefore failed.

Xavier Blanc, Secretary General of AEPO-ARTIS, partner of the FAIR INTERNET campaign, which represents over 500,000 performers across Europe, said: “It is unacceptable that still today the majority of performers receive no remuneration from downloading /streaming services such as iTunes, Spotify, Netflix, … EU legislators must free performers from the trap of their contracts”.

AEPO-ARTIS is pleased that the concern of over 500.000 performers in Europe has finally been heard by the European Parliament which introduced a new article -14 to the draft Copyright Directive.

This article asserts the principle that all performers should be paid a fair and proportional remuneration for all modes of exploitation, including for on-demand uses, and sends a clear signal against persistent and unacceptable buy-out practices.

While the European Parliament, unfortunately, falls short of granting performers an unwaivable right to receive remuneration directly from service providers making their performances available on demand, it nevertheless encourages Member States to achieve this aim by way of statutory remuneration mechanisms.

“We are grateful to the members of the European Parliament who are trying to make a real difference to performers in Europe and create a fair and stable creative industry for those at the heart of the value chain” concluded Tilo Gerlach, President of AEPO-ARTIS. “Article -14 is a first step in the right direction towards more equitable remuneration of performers that will be secured from on demand services through collective management which will hopefully be endorsed in the coming weeks during the trilogue negotiations”.

For more information:

Visit www.aepo-artis.org or contact
Nicole.Schulze@aepo-artis.org
+32 487 25 09 51

PRESS RELEASE: Brussels, 7 November 2018:
The Association of European Performers’ Organisations, AEPO-ARTIS, held its annual seminar dedicated to “EU Copyright Acquis: 25 years of harmonisation. What is working for performers and what is not?” on 7 November 2018.

The AEPO-ARTIS seminar, amongst other issues, took stock of the European Commission’s proposal For a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, which is now being discussed in trilogue between the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission.

In this regard, the fair remuneration of performers from on-demand services (iTunes, Netflix, Spotify, …) was at the heart of the discussion.

Supported by the findings of the 2018 AEPO-ARTIS study drawing upon data from 26 countries, available on the AEPO-ARTIS website, the economic situation of performers has barely changed after the introduction of the exclusive making available right in the 2001 Copyright Directive. The right is generally transferred in buy-out contracts to producers, with only few famous performers managing to negotiate the payment of royalties.

For most performers, however, this right has not been effective in practice despite the exponential growth of on demand streaming and download services, such as Spotify, iTunes and Netflix, in popularity, revenue and value. Performers are missing out of their fair share in this value uplift.

This is reflected in the findings of the AEPO-ARTIS study where it can be seen that in 2005, collections in respect of on demand services were effectively zero and by 2017, the amount collected by collective management organisations still only amounted to less than 2% of total collections. The EU law designed to protect and adequately reward performers has therefore failed.

Xavier Blanc, Secretary General of AEPO-ARTIS, partner of the FAIR INTERNET campaign, which represents over 500,000 performers across Europe, said: “It is unacceptable that still today the majority of performers receive no remuneration from downloading /streaming services such as iTunes, Spotify, Netflix, … EU legislators must free performers from the trap of their contracts”.

AEPO-ARTIS is pleased that the concern of over 500.000 performers in Europe has finally been heard by the European Parliament which introduced a new article -14 to the draft Copyright Directive.

This article asserts the principle that all performers should be paid a fair and proportional remuneration for all modes of exploitation, including for on-demand uses, and sends a clear signal against persistent and unacceptable buy-out practices.

While the European Parliament, unfortunately, falls short of granting performers an unwaivable right to receive remuneration directly from service providers making their performances available on demand, it nevertheless encourages Member States to achieve this aim by way of statutory remuneration mechanisms.

“We are grateful to the members of the European Parliament who are trying to make a real difference to performers in Europe and create a fair and stable creative industry for those at the heart of the value chain” concluded Tilo Gerlach, President of AEPO-ARTIS. “Article -14 is a first step in the right direction towards more equitable remuneration of performers that will be secured from on demand services through collective management which will hopefully be endorsed in the coming weeks during the trilogue negotiations”.

For more information: 

Visit www.aepo-artis.org or contact
Nicole.Schulze@aepo-artis.org
+32 487 25 09 51