EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON NEW COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE
Artists, authors, creators, your voice is needed to defend your rights!
Only a few weeks are left before the European Parliament votes on the "Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market"
The battle isn’t won yet: now is the time to make your voice heard!
The Commission heard you in 2016 and proposed a balanced legislation on copyright, but some Members of the European Parliament are willing to do anything to stop creators from getting paid fairly for the use of creative works online.
More than 37,000 creators from all over Europe have signed the petition already, calling on their elected officials to do the right thing.
Join them today: sign the petition!
Dear European Union,
Please Fix the Transfer of Value
We, creators from all artistic fields and from all over Europe, call on you, EU decision makers, to put a stop to the funneling of value away from the creators to a number of online platforms.
You have rightly acknowledged that user uploaded content (UUC) platforms are now the main point of access to our works online, but unacceptably do not, or only barely remunerate us for their exploitation. The viability of cultural and creative industries, which create significant growth and jobs for the EU economy, is threatened by this transfer of value.
We want an environment that fosters growth for new and legitimate businesses, including UUC platforms, while providing legal certainty for consumers, and ensuring that this is paired with appropriate remuneration for creators. UUC platforms have built their businesses on people’s desire to access and share our works, and should not put the burden of liability on consumers or creators.
The current situation is a race to the bottom that drives down the respect for and value of creative works. We depend on copyright/authors’ right as this is our pay and the only leverage we have to negotiate fair remuneration for our works.
The forthcoming legislation on copyright is your opportunity to stop these freeriding platforms.
We therefore call on you to:
- clarify that UUC platforms like YouTube are involved in reproducing and making our works available under copyright laws;
- ensure that the safe harbour non-liability regime does not apply to them as it is meant for technical intermediaries only.
The European Commission’s fair and balanced approach on this issue was a step in the right direction. We count on the European Parliament and the European Council to build on and further develop the solution proposed by the Commission to ensure a sustainable environment for all.
Sincerely, Creators.