Jean-Michel Jarre and an authors’ delegation call on the European Parliament for fair rules in the digital world

Authors worldwide look for Europe’s leadership to address the “transfer of value”

CISAC/GESAC Press Release – Brussels, Belgium – 6th March 2018 – World-renowned electronic music composer and performer Jean-Michel Jarre led a delegation of authors(*) in Brussels today to call for support by members of the European Parliament to bring fairness for authors in the digital world.

Jarre and the delegation from 5 different Member States presented a petition signed by more than 14.000 authors and composers from across the EU. The petition calls for an end to the “transfer of value” that is benefiting certain major digital platforms at the expense of creators.

Jarre was speaking as President of CISAC (the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) which is the voice globally of over 4 million creators of music, cinema, visual arts, theatre and literature. The delegation was jointly coordinated by GESAC, which represents one million authors from all sectors in Europe.

The authors expressed their full support for the European Commission’s proposed Copyright Directive, currently pending before the Parliament, and urged the JURI Committee of the European Parliament to stick firm on a real and meaningful solution on transfer of value, and not to deviate from this line.

The group also thanked a growing number of Member States in the Council, including France, which are committed to effectively addressing the “transfer of value” or “value gap” in the proposed Copyright Directive that is currently under discussion in the European Parliament.

Jean-Michel Jarre said: “Celebrating and promoting creativity has always been a part of Europe’s DNA. But today, in Europe and worldwide, creators are seeing the value of their work being unfairly extracted by digital platforms. The world is now watching the EU. It is for Europe to prove that it remains the champion of culture. We need a 21^st century copyright framework for a 21^st century digital market – one that allows future generations of creators to be fairly remunerated and be able to make a living from their work.”

The music sector and other creative sectors are growing fast and generating vast revenues, but these revenues are not fairly returned to the creators. Instead they are being siphoned off by large global digital services – notably user upload platforms such as YouTube – which refuse to share their vast revenues with those who created the content uploaded to their services.

The creators’ petition asks EU policy makers to fix this transfer of value in the proposed copyright legislation.

“EP Pervenche Berès, co-chair of the Cultural and Creative Industry Intergroup (CCI) said: “Europe should adopt an ambitious solution to stop this totally unfair situation of free riders in the market and ensure a strong and sustainable ecosystem. Creators’ engagement by our side is extremely valuable for us and for the cause we defend because the stakes are high and because some MEPs in this house do unfortunately listen to and believe these giants.”

MEP Christian Ehler, co-chair of the CCI said: “Europe has an historical opportunity today to address the issue, which is about the future of cultural and creative industries and also about the digital single market at large. It’s about European economy and growth. It’s also about culture which is what keeps us together. This is a decisive period, where the EU has a chance to put forward a meaningful solution.”

(*) Delegation composed of:

Crispin Hunt, British composer, songwriter, singer and producer, Chair of BASCA and a Board Director of PRS for Music.

Matthew Irons, author, composer, singer and guitarist of the Belgian band Puggy,

Astrid North, German singer and songwriter,

Cora Novoa, Spanish electronic and experimental – pop music composer, DJ,

Piotr Rubik, Polish author composer performer and conductor.

 

About CISAC

CISAC – the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers – is the world’s leading network of authors’ societies. With 239 member societies in 121 countries, CISAC represents more than 4 million creators from all geographic areas and all artistic repertoires; music, audiovisual, drama, literature and visual arts.

For more information

Adrian Strain – CISAC Director of Communications

adrianstrain@cisac.org | +44 7775 998 294

www.cisac.org | Twitter: @CISACNews | Facebook: CISACWorldwide.

About GESAC

GESAC groups 31 of the largest authors’ societies in the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. They defend and promote the rights of more than 1 million creators and rights holders in the areas of music, audiovisual works, visual arts, and literary and dramatic works.

For more information

Véronique Desbrosses – GESAC General Manager

veronique.desbrosses@gesac.org | 02 511 44 54

www.authorsocieties.eu | Twitter: @authorsocieties.