Leaks, Copyright and Remuneration
The last 10 days have seen more light shined on the European Commission’s copyright plans following a series of leaks – an Impact Assessment, a draft Directive, a draft Communication.
The scope is broad, but the Commission has long promised that the issue of remuneration will be tackled. Is it?
Kind of. In the leaked texts, the Commission tackles transparency for authors and performers – an important part of what makes it difficult for authors to be paid fairly. However, and especially in the audiovisual sector, while transparency is of course good progress, it is not going to overcome many of the underlying challenges faced by screenwriters and directors. SAA is going to demonstrate some of these challenges ahead of the Commission’s proposal, scheduled for 21st September. The current legislation is a great opportunity to go beyond transparency and actually strengthen the remuneration position of audiovisual authors. It would be a shame after so many grand declarations (here, here, here and here) for that opportunity to go to waste. Keep an eye on our blog as well as our twitter feed @saabrussels and #AVauthorsRemuneration for more information.