Brussels, 13/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - The education and culture committee at the European Parliament adopted the report by Jean-Marie Cavada (EPP, France) on 10 July on the economic potential of creative and cultural industries. Cavada was delighted at the support for his project: “This text, which is particularly addressed to professionals and users, has united around it the members of the culture and education committee of other political groups (Ed: than that of Cavada) and has thus been able to become a useful, coherent and concrete tool for the future of the audiovisual sector in the digital era.”
Freeing the potential of these industries comes from greater flexibility and strengthened legal protection both at the level of producers and distributors, and at the level of users, the MEPs from the committee say. The report argues for an advance in the legal offer of online audiovisual works and focuses on setting up Community strategies to move towards a true single market for digital content on line. It encourages an ambitious and responsible digitisation of audiovisual works of European heritage, and the promotion of expressions and audiovisual content. It urges the signature at European level of collective or contractual agreements between authors' representatives, performers and producers in order to develop good fair practice and assure remuneration of rightholders for the future use of their online works. The Parliament also proposes, for better distribution of audiovisual works, the systematic use of the ISAN standard for their identification, as well as a reduced VAT rate for online distribution in all the member states. Lastly, the guarantee of legal protection against the behavioural targeting of users (especially the non-authorised use of data once connected) would constitute an argument in favour of legal use. (IL/transl.fl)