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European Parliament To Vote On Copyright Directive On Thursday

04 July 2018

On the 5th July 2018 the European Parliament will vote on the Copyright Directive which seeks to update the legal framework to reflect the digital age and ensure that all music services are fully licenced and music makers are fairly and transparently paid by their business partners.  The MMF has issued the following statement:

“MMF welcomes the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee report to ensure the use of music online is fairly licensed by all platforms. This is an important stepping stone towards a properly functioning market, and the proposal should increase the levers available to UK music makers to achieve fair, proportionate and transparent remuneration for the use of their music online.  

In parallel to these changes, we also believe that the introduction of a revocation right and a contract-adjustment right, along with access to alternative dispute resolution, should help modernise the way artists are paid in the digital single market. We call upon the European Parliament to adopt this proposal and the UK government to transpose it into UK law working closely with music makers on its implementation.”

Despite fierce opposition from organisations who fear the new legislation would leave users vulnerable to censorship and potentially lead to user-uploaded content being removed from the internet and social media platforms, 84 European Music and Media Organisations have declared their support for Article 13 of the Directive focusing on the “Value Gap” which aims to shift liability from rights-holders to take music uploaded by users down, to require the platforms to licence and negotiate royalty rates in the same way Spotify and Apple do.  Services such as YouTube, Dailymotion and other music sharing services currently rely on the safe harbour provision which removes liability for User Generated Content provided takedown measures are in place.

The MMF’s sister organisation the Featured Artists Coalition has joined a pan-European campaign with other European organisations and is seeking support from the artists you represent to share this online before the vote tomorrow, and contact MEPs

To read more about the debate on article 13 here

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