Discussions on Europe's Copyright Directive reach final stage

By Emmanuel Legrand

European policy-makers are putting the final touches to a ​draft Copyright Directive. Interested parties — Commission, Parliament and Council — have started on Monday Feb. 11 the trilogue discussions with the goal to reach a final agreement by the end of the week.

  Last week, twenty of the 27 member states part of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (COREPER) approved the compromise text agreed by France and Germany and presented by the Romanian presidency, opening the doors to final discussions. As part of the compromise, small companies operating online platforms that are less than three years old, making less than €10 million in annual turnover and with no more than 5 million monthly users will not be required to implement filtering devices to monitor potential copyright infringement (Article 13).

  "As we start the week of final #copyright negotiations, my message to @Europarl_EN & @EUCouncil: We have a responsibility to find a compromise that works for all. I see no reason why a deal is impossible. It is possible to protect creators and ensure vitality of internet economy," wrote on Twitter Commission Vice-President AndrusAnsip.

Better no Directive than a bad Directive?

  The final talks were taking place as the coalition of creative industries organisations pushing in favour of a strong Copyright Directive started showing signs of cracks. On Feb. 7, music industry trade bodies IFPI (record labels), ICMP (music publishers) and IMPALA (independent labels) sided with the Association of Commercial Televisiona nd football leagues to call on negotiators "not to proceed with Copyright Directive on the basis of current proposals." 

  The signatories of the joint statement said that "as rights holders we are not able to support it or the impact it will have on the European creative sector" and that they "would rather have no Directive at all than a bad Directive."

  The position was criticised by the UK Council of Music Makers (CMM), which includes BASCA, Featured Artists Coalition, Music Managers Forum, MGPand the Musicians' Union. CMM said it was "hugely disappointing to see the music labels and publishers disregard the interests of their creators and artists in this way."

  CMM added: "They are trying to halt the directive not only because of the latest wording of article thirteen but because they want to avoid the improvements to transparency and fairness that articles fourteen to sixteen bring.”

  IMPALA Executive Chair HelenSmith clarified its organisations' decision to ask European policy-makers to drop the Directive. She said the proposed text "still has some holes in it and they need to be fixed before the cake can go in the oven." IMPALA added that "subject to the fixes that are still needed to the text" it "fully supports the Directive including article 13 and the provisions for performers and authors in Articles 14 to 16." Smith concluded: “We have backed this proposal from the very beginning, but our support is not at any price."

Creators want a Directive

  Meanwhile, GESAC, which regroups the main rights societies in Europe, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, and a whole range of organisations representing creators in music, visual arts, audiovisual, journalism urged trilogue negotiators "to work constructively to improve and to adopt the Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market at this week’s trilogue meetings."

  In a joint statement, they added, "The current mandate from COREPER on Friday is a crucial step towards the Directive’s adoption, even though further improvements are needed to make the text truly meaningful for the cultural and creative sectors. This Directive has been long sought to create a necessary level playing field for all creative sectors in the European Digital Single Market, whilst giving consumers better access to more content in a secure environment."

  They concluded: "Without the Directive, creators will be left with no guarantee of obtaining a fair remuneration online and our sectors will be subject to great legal uncertainty regarding future practices. Failing to adopt the Directive would mean missing a historic opportunity, be extremely detrimental to European culture, and also represent a fundamental failure for European policy making.  The time has come to make the final effort to improve the text and reach an agreement at the trilogue. It is time to show that the European Union cares for its citizens, creators, values and cultural diversity and can stand up to protect them."