By Emmanuel Legrand
Time may be of the essence, but European institutions
work within a different time frame than the rest of the world.
That was pretty obvious at the very informative
session ‘Lost Property: The Future of Collective Rights Management in the EU’
presented by German authors’ society Gema at Midem on January 30.
For authors’ societies, the most important person on
the panel was Kerstin Jorna, the deputy head of cabinet of European
Commissioner Michel Barnier at the European Commission in Brussels. Jorna is
one of the policy-makers who is in charge of drafting European legislation
dealing with copyright. And if there is one sector in need for such thing, it’s
collective management, so that users of music repertoire and those who license it
can navigate within clear boundaries within the European Union.
“We want to create a digital single market for the
benefit of all. We need security for the market between those who create, those
who invest [in creation], and those who enjoy [these creations],” said Jorna.
That’s a declaration of intent, since the Commission
created havoc a few years back by ruling that reciprocal deals within rights
societies were anti-competitive. The situation screams for a clear EU legal
framework for pan-European licensing in which rights societies can operate with
a set of rules, content users can apply for licenses that gives them access to
the repertoire they need, while creators can get compensation. Such document
was expected from the Commission for the past two years. Last year at Midem,
Barnier said it would happen by the end of the year, then it was pushed back to
2012.
When asked by session moderator Manfred
Gillig-Degrave, editor-in-chief, of German trade magazine Musikwoche, what
would be the Commission’s schedule for such a framework, Jorna rolled out the
following agenda: by April, Barnier will present a text on pan-European
licensing, opening a period during which the proposed legislation with be
discussed by stakeholders, before being presented to the European Council of
Ministers and the European Parliament, for final adoption in 2013. That is, if
nothing derails the process…
“We hope that a consensus will emerge towards 2013,”
said Jorna, and as she said so, someone shouted from the back of the room, “in
2020?”, which made the audience laugh, but also highlighted the frustration
from many within the world of collective management who consider that the
European Commission has not reacting quickly enough and is leaving the sector
in a state of limbo.
The CEO of GEMA Harald Hecker welcome the process
initiated by the Commission, but reminded Jorna that “we need to act very very
fast – time is of the essence here.” For Hecker, societies need this framework
because they are dealing with “more and more international users who are asking
for cross-borders licenses”.
Added Hecker, “Collecting societies need the legal
framework for two reasons: we have to create a level playing field for fair
competition – in the EU you have 27 rules for societies and we need
harmonisation of these rules. Without these rules there is no fair competition.
And we need legal certainty. As of today, there is no cooperation with
societies because we don’t know what we can do and what we cannot do.”
The urgency was also felt in the comments made by
Ansgar Heveling, member of the German Bundestag. “We need fast review from the
EC about the way in which it will go,” he said.Kenth Muldin offered a double
perspective, as CEO of Sweden’s STIM, which he described as “a small society
from a small country’, and as chair of the board of CISAC, the International
Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers.
As a representative of STIM, Muldin welcomed “the
initiatives form EC to get a level playing field for small societies to
participate” and speaking with his CISAC hat, he said that the organisation,
which regroups 230 societies from around the world, will very closely analyse
the proposed legislation.
“Europe still represents over 65% of the income for
creators and publishers,” said Muldin, “so it is quite natural that whole world
is watching closely what happens in Brussels, and also watching the planning of
what will happen in Europe. Similar situations occur all over the world: the
abolition of borders will happen globally.”
Giving the perspective of the creators, Alfons
Karabuda, executive chairman of Europe’s association of composers and
songwriters ECSA, told the audience that creators welcome competition between
societies, if it meant to provide a better service to users and to their
members, but not if it applies to rates because it will mean less revenues in
the end for creators. Karabuda also made a plea in favour of
collective management.
“We need a healthy competitive market and we need also a place for
composers who do not have a place in the commercial arena,” said Karabuda.
“Collective management societies are the ones that can treat repertoire
equally. We welcome the initiatives [from the Commission] and would be glad to
be part of the creation of this framework because we fear that if not seen from
the authors’ perspective, it will not be a long term solution.”
(For those who were not there -- and those who were -- the complete Midem coverage can be found on the trade show's blog)
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