Brussels, 15/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - Copyright reform should include a guarantee of fair remuneration for creators and performers, stated MEP Mary Honeyball (S&D, UK) during a Fair Internet discussion which she was jointly chairing on 14 October. The Fair Internet coalition brings together several performers' and creators' associations. Members of the European Parliament from various political groups and Parliamentary committees also took part in the event: Dietmar Koester (S&D, Germany), Joëlle Bergeron (EFD, France), Bogdan Wenta (EPP, Poland), Virginie Rozière (S&D, France) and Anneleen Van Bossuyt (ECR, Belgium).
Debate centred largely on online remuneration for performers, which is to be governed by the proposal for the reform of copyright, announced by the European Commission. The Fair Internet coalition reiterated its call to the Commission and MEPs to address the unfair treatment of performers in the digital environment as a matter of priority in this reform process.
The performers and creators believe the European institutions need to create a sustainable cultural and creative sector where performers get a fair share of online revenues. “Performers support the distribution of their works online, but they need to get paid. They hope that the upcoming Commission proposal will be the starting point”, Eanna Casey, from the Recorded Artists Actors Performers (RAAP) Ireland said. “Creators' requests for a better remuneration system for online usage of their works is not about greed. It is about fairness and creative sustainability”, added Dominique Luquer of the International Federation of Actors (FIA). “We therefore urgently need legislation introducing a guarantee for a fair remuneration collected from the users”, argued Xavier Blanc, General Secretary of the Association of European Performers' Organisations (AEPOI-ARTIS). The Fair Internet coalition launched its awareness-raising campaign on 5 May, along with a petition, calling for fair remuneration for performers and creators, which gathered 17,000 signatures (see EUROPE 11304). (Original version in French by Isabelle Lamberty)