Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-24-Speech-3-444"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080924.36.3-444"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, I believe that these questions should be placed in a wider context, as the debate on how to license music on the internet is gaining momentum. There is more music available to consumers on the internet than ever before, yet hardly any of it is properly licensed. Almost none of it, therefore, produces any revenue for artists or music producers. In 2006, the ratio of illegal to legal song downloads was 40 to 1, and over 20 billion recordings are illegally downloaded every single year. So something is wrong here.
Since the developments concerning creative content online take place at a rapid pace, there are no consolidated practices on which to base compulsory legislation at this stage. At this point in time, such legislation at a European level would possibly jeopardise the development of new business models and the cooperation processes among stakeholders. For this reason, a recommendation seems the most appropriate means to facilitate the shift of the creative content sector to the online environment.
Mr Toubon made the interesting suggestion that maybe there should be a working group on small collecting societies, and I think that this is a very excellent idea. The Commission would be prepared to be a facilitator and try to find a role for small societies in the online world so we will take up his suggestion.
Online operators say that licensing of music in Europe is too complicated, which is why there is still no legal online service available in any of the new Member States.
This is the background to the series of questions we have received from Mr Gargani. Everybody agrees that we need to simplify the licensing of music for internet downloads and mobile phones. But nobody wants to lose out in the process.
Is there a simple way to achieve licences that cover all rights all over Europe? In answering this question, we must bear in mind that most authors, composers and performers live off the revenue they generate with copyright. This is how they make ends meet every month.
How, then, do we balance efficiency and fairness? The Commission made its recommendations in 2005. As the 2008 evaluation report on these recommendations shows, some owners of copyright, such as the music publishers, have followed our advice and set up Europe-wide licences. While small collecting societies fear that these platforms leave no room for niche repertoire, we now have to make sure that they do. The signs are encouraging. There are already EU licences for small music publishers. While these efforts are ongoing, we should not legislate prematurely. The ongoing restructuring should be given a chance. But we should remain vigilant so that small repertoire does not lose out.
Let me now say a word on the antitrust decision that the Commission recently adopted in the CISAC case. The decision prohibits anti-competitive practices by European collecting societies which limit their ability to offer their services to authors and online operators. The removal of the restrictions will allow authors to choose which collecting society manages their copyright. It will also make it easier for online operators to obtain licences for exploitation in several countries from a single collecting society of their choice.
The 2005 Recommendation and the CISAC Decision are governed by the same principles: they both encourage the removal of restrictions which prevent authors and composers from freely choosing their collecting societies, and rights managers from delivering multi-territorial licences.
Concerning the preparation of the recommendation on creative content online, the Commission plans to adopt this recommendation during the first quarter of 2009. The 2008 public consultation on creative content online has shown that the topic of multi-territory licensing for audiovisual works is not ripe to be dealt with in the planned recommendation.
The Commission has published a call for tender for an independent study on multi-territory licensing of audiovisual works, with the aim of analysing both the economic and cultural aspects of such practices. The Commission is currently analysing the tenders and the results of the study should become available by the end of 2009. We are working closely with both the European Parliament and the Member States on developments concerning creative content online, in particular by participating in the various hearings organised by the European Parliament and the discussions in the audiovisual working group of the Council of Ministers."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples