Speech: Bringing online music within the reach of all Europeans
Michel Barnier schetst in zijn speech een beeld van een Europese waarborg voor grensoverschrijdende online content. Zijn speech 'Bringing online music within the reach of all Europeans' geeft de mogelijkheden en de huidige problematiek weer. De komst van een 'Europese Licentie' zou het gebrek aan rechtszekerheid voor de betrokken partijen moeten verhelpen. Onderwerpen als hergebruik, online content, de ongelijkheid tussen de verschillende Europese lidstaten en de verschillende belangen van partijen komen in zijn speech naar voren.
There is no doubt that the online offer of music in Europe has improved considerably in the last years but there are still too many instances in which the choice of consumers is limited. European citizens are refused access to certain sites or are redirected to their national sites – where they exist. (...) We all know that these problems have multiple causes, some of which have nothing to do with copyright, such as insufficient broadband network capacity in Europe, the commercial strategies of service providers, the cost of payment services and so on. (...) It should not be a lock, but a modern and effective tool for supporting creation and innovation, providing access to high-quality content across borders, encouraging investment and strengthening cultural diversity.
To achieve this objective, acting on an initiative from me the European Commission has adopted two complementary approaches.
I – Firstly, whenever possible, we must encourage dialogue with the industry and the principal stakeholders, who hold the keys to resolving many of the current difficulties.
Acting on my proposal, the Commission decided at the beginning of December to launch the "Licences for Europe" initiative. What is it about? It is to establish by the end of 2013 a structured dialogue between all stakeholders, led by the Commission, to provide specific short-term solutions to a series of legitimate questions from consumers, citizens and enterprises, including your own. With my colleagues Neelie Kroes and Androulla Vassiliou, co-responsible for this process, I will ensure that it yields results.II – On the other hand, where necessary to ensure dynamism in Europe, we must be prepared to legislate.
The 30 European collecting societies for copyright on musical works are subject to as many different sets of rules. The Directive on collective rights management will ensure the proper governance of these societies while facilitating the granting of multi-territorial licences, which should enable companies, particularly SMEs, to generate a more substantial, and above all more European, supply of music online.(...) Besides licences, we also need to protect the fruits of creators' work and producers' and publishers' investments from those who make use of the Internet to make money from the work of others without their consent. That is why we are discussing the most effective and legitimate means of respecting copyright. Copyright is an essential driver in the creative process. But a right which cannot be respected is of little use.
