Wide range of Europ. rightholders - urge no fudging of EU Value Gap fix

IFPI and wide range of European creators, producers and performers urge no fudging of EU Value Gap fix

IFPI, in coordination with 26 creative sector organisations including Europe’s authors, journalists, TV producers, football leagues, publishers, filmmakers and photo agencies, have written a letter urging a clear legal solution in Europe to the Value Gap as the European Council negotiates new copyright laws.

The EU Directive for Copyright in the Digital Single Market as originally proposed by the European Commission helpfully clarified that online User Uploaded Content services could no longer abuse existing ‘Safe Harbour’ laws to avoid taking a licence for copyright protected works.

With negotiations set to continue on Monday among Europe’s 28 Member State governments, a wide range of investors, producers and distributors of Europe’s creative content, sent a letter to the EU Council urging no backtracking on a clear, legal solution. The organisations express their collective concerns on the risk of the Council restricting European copyright framework cornerstones such as the right of Communication to the Public or unintentionally creating ‘new Safe Harbours’ for the services involved.

As the letter states:

"Our common goal is to ensure the primary objectives of the proposed EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market are achieved. Among these is a meaningful solution to the ‘transfer of value’ or ‘value gap’ problem. Solving this issue - which continues to severely harm us all - would enable a balanced, well-functioning EU Digital Single Marketplace for creative content."

As support grows across Europe for a clear solution to the Value Gap, EU Member States are urged to do their bit to ensure the future Directive clarifies the responsibilities of UUC services when it comes to distributing copyright protected content online. Only by doing so, can the ongoing imbalance in Europe’s marketplace for digital content, including music, finally be corrected.

The full letter is available here: 

http://ifpi.org/downloads/EU_Creators_Cultural_and_Creative_Industries_Call_to_European_Council.pdf