European negotiators have reached an agreement on the final text of the Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market – including the controversial ‘Article 13’ provision.
The text was finalised this evening (February 13) after the final phase of talks started on Monday (February 11).
The latest development is a major step toward the final adoption of the bill by the European Council and by the European Parliament.
The final phase of Copyright Directive talks began on Monday evening after European Member states voted last week to use a France – Germany deal as an agreed position from which to negotiate.
The France – Germany deal included a number of ‘possible compromises’ on the wording of Article 13 and the ‘Definition of an online content sharing service provider’ under Article 2(5), which you can read in full here.
Various European music industry organizations have welcomed the news so far, including GEMA and GESAC (European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers).
The news follows last week’s publication of an open letter signed by labels and publishers calling on European negotiators to cancel the Directive.
Co-signed by the IFPI, ICMP, IMPALA and several other rightsholder organizations from the audio-visual, broadcasting and sports industries including the Premier League, the collective argued that the directive risks “leaving European producers, distributors and creators worse off”.
“We welcome the agreement reached today between the EU institutions regarding copyright. Thanks to the Directive, online platforms will finally have to pay authors a fair remuneration for the usage of their works.”
Dr. Harald Heker, GEMA
Dr. Harald Heker, CEO German collective society said: “We welcome the agreement reached today between the EU institutions regarding copyright. Thanks to the Directive, online platforms will finally have to pay authors a fair remuneration for the usage of their works.
“This has been overdue for years. Nevertheless, the debate continues to include many pieces of misinformation. It is often ignored that the European Parliament and the Member States have continuously developed the contents of the Directive further in intensive debates.
“The draft of the Directive that we now have in front of us imposes a higher level of responsibility onto the online platforms and strengthens the position of creators as well as internet users at the same time.
“For music authors, this would be an important step for which GEMA has been fighting for a long time. It is now up to the European Parliament to give green lights for a modern copyright.”
Andrus Ansip European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market wrote in a tweet (see below) that the outcome is a “major achievement for Europe”.
Thank you to the #copyrightdirective negotiating teams for your hard work on finding a compromise that delivers for all parts of the society and economy. This is a major achievement for Europe. #copyright #ro2019eu pic.twitter.com/8i9WwiD2Md
— Andrus Ansip (@Ansip_EU) February 13, 2019
Anders Lassen, President of GESAC said: “This Directive was long awaited in our sector.
“We still need to have a careful assessment of the final text, but its adoption sends a clear signal that large platforms dominating the online content market at the expense of creators must stop freeriding and comply with copyright rules.
“We trust that Member States and the European Parliament will now endorse the Directive and give their final approval to this historical breakthrough, without any further delay.”
“We trust that Member States and the European Parliament will now endorse the Directive and give their final approval to this historical breakthrough, without any further delay.”
Anders Lassen, GESAC
Véronique Desbrosses, GESAC Director General added: “We are thankful to the European decision- makers for reaching an agreement on this complex and sensitive piece of legislation today.
“Despite the pressure of tech giants until the very end, the text, which still needs to be assessed in detail, is a major achievement.
“It will enable creators to be remunerated fairly by large online platforms that today are siphoning the value of the creative sector while failing to compensate creators”Music Business Worldwide
No comments:
Post a Comment