The European Commission considers that there is no need, at this stage, to extend the term of protection of the rights of performers and producers in the audiovisual sector. This is what has emerged from a working document published on Thursday 17 December, which is based in particular on a targeted consultation carried out in the second half of 2019.
“The present analysis clearly shows that even if a term extension could bring about certain benefits for performers in the audiovisual sector, this positive impact would be very limited. Only very few films (around 5% of all exploited works according to the targeted consultation) are still exploited after 50 years. In addition, the revenues they generate are marginal, representing at best 1% of producers’ total revenues”, the document states.
By publishing this assessment, the European Commission complies with Article 3.2 of Directive 2011/77/EU on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights.
This Directive extended the term of protection for performers and producers in the music sector to 70 years after the death of the author. However, it has retained the 50-year limit applicable to the audiovisual sector in Directive 2006/116/EC, in accordance with international standards (Berne Convention).
In its assessment, the Commission abides by the exercise, but considers that no changes are necessary. However, it does not exclude the possibility of revisiting this position at a later stage, as part of a more comprehensive evaluation of the 2011 Directive.
See the text of the document: http://bit.ly/3agEOlb (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)