The progress the music industry cheered in September seems to have slipped backwards since the Romanian Presidency took over chairing the Council of Ministers in January. They have proposed a new text of article 13 of the Copyright Directive for the ‘Trialogue’ discussions between Parliament, Council and Commission on safe harbours that is considered too weak by the Music Industry and a dangerous step backwards. The film industry is also lobbying against various versions of this article as is YouTube and technology companies.
In the meantime, the Parliament text on art. 14, which introduces the concept of a performer right on digital, is absolutely opposed by the record labels who fear it may lead to direct performer rights on all streaming income, circumventing rights-holders.
Alongside this all the hard-fought progress for music artists on articles 14-16 on transparency, reversion rights, contract adjustment and alternative dispute resolution are getting lost in the fight. If no agreement is reached in February, the text will fall entirely as there is no enough time to get it through the final votes before the European Parliament Elections this Spring.
In recent months, EMMA Board has been actively involved in discussions about Copyright Directive with European Commission representatives supporting the directive as a whole including the provisions to ensure fair payment for artists (articles 13-16).
For more information about Article 13, please ref to:
– Europe for Creators site: here
– UK Music site: here
– Billboard summary: here