A Publisher's Right for Free Press

A NECESSITY FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY OF A FREE AND PLURALISTIC PRESS SECTOR

IN EUROPE

Copyright Directive Update:

WHAT PUBLISHERS SAY

Publishers across Europe explain why a publisher's right is essential for their businesses

"The publishers' right will enable us to secure our heavy investments in digital paid content and in this way contribute to a sustainable future for our media brands."

"The internet economy is a low cost economy where there are virtually no barriers to entry, whereas quality journalism is a high cost business. Quality content is expensive.. Professional journalists need to be paid, trained, resourced and legally protected by their publishers. It is therefore important that a press publishers` right is introduced at European level without delay."

"Whoever wants to live in a functional and democratic Europe in the digital age has to make a strong contribution to the protection of expensive quality content."

"[I]t’s at moments like these that news organizations prove their true value — gathering the facts in the most challenging and confusing of circumstances, sorting the truth from the noise, helping people make sense of the senseless…This is when as a publisher and CEO of a media company you feel how important media are to society."

"A press publishers right will provide legal certainty for the benefit of press publishers large and small, making it clear that publishers’ content cannot be copied or reused for commercial benefit without their permission, putting press publishers on a par with other EU related right holders."

"The Commission’s initiative to create a right for press publishers at EU level represents an historical and significant step. This issue has to be solved as part of the EU Copyright legislation as it is one of the key-internal market instrument protecting the whole culture and creative sector in Europe. Such copyright protection should therefore apply to the press publishing sector in order to ensure legal certainty on a European wide basis."

"At my media company, Impresa, in Portugal, our journalists’ independence from the business is the “Holy Grail”. We train them, pay them, provide them with legal protection, produce and distribute their work on multiple platforms then allow them to get on and do the essential job of informing and entertaining our readers and broadcast audiences without interference."

"Europe needs a copyright environment that ensures long-term survival and prosperity of a plural and diverse magazine publishing industry."

"Time is money. Publishers must be able to protect their investment. The sooner the better."

STATEMENT ON PUBLISHERS’ RIGHT FROM JOURNALISTS AND PUBLISHERS

Ahead of the copyright vote in Plenary scheduled for 12 September, the EFJ (European Federation of Journalists), the IFJ (International Federation of Journalists), EMMA (European Magazine Media Association), ENPA (European Newspaper Publishers’ Association), EPC (European Publishers Council), NME (News Media Europe) – together representing the interests of tens of thousands of European news brands and journalists – jointly call on MEPs to maintain the wording on the publishers’ right (Article 11) as put forward by the Legal Affairs Committee.

Article 11, as proposed by Legal Affairs Committee on 20 June, represent a major step in the debate: the recognition of the need to protect investment in content, to make copyright management fit for the digital world, to secure fair practices in the online exploitation of news content and to ensure a healthy, democratic, diverse, sustainable and free democratic press to the benefit of European journalists, citizens and European democracy.

The proposal also ensures that hyperlinks are clearly excluded from the scope of Article 11, and does not penalise readers who share articles, since it applies only to uses by information society service providers.

In this context, the International and European Federations of Journalists agreed in early July with European news publishers on a joint approach and wording of Recital 35, to ensure a fair share for journalists of the benefits deriving from the future publishers' neighbouring right[1] .

The introduction of the proposed neighbouring right in Article 11 will facilitate a thriving press ecosystem, with fair pay for journalists, including photographers and freelances, and will safeguard the quality of content.

The solution voted for in JURI represents a sensible and balanced approach that was reached after months of negotiation and compromise. The entirety of the press ecosystem is united in support of Article 11, as proposed by the JURI Committee.

Any further limitation or amendment to Article 11 would only have the unwanted effect of diluting the right, rendering it unusable – with the unfortunate outcome that both publishers and journalists would lose out. This would benefit only the actors that have taken advantage of the current lack of legal clarity and that have been free-riding on press content for the last decade, at the expense of professional journalism and European media. Any alternative solution, such as a presumption, is also strongly opposed by the entire ecosystem.

A publishers’ right gives press publishers a much-needed legal standing to be able to negotiate fair and workable terms of distribution of press content in the digital world; ensures a fair and proportionate distribution of revenue between publishers and journalists; and is essential in aiding the industry to secure the future of an independent, diverse and free press.

For these reasons, we ask for your support of Article 11 as proposed by the Legal Affairs Committee and strongly encourage Members of the European Parliament not to succumb to misleading claims and hostile and intimidating campaigns driven by opponents of a neighbouring right for press publishers.

We cordially invite you to contact us with further inquiries.

Yours sincerely,

Philippe Leruth

IFJ

www.ifj.org

Mogens Blicher Bjerregård

EFJ

https://europeanjournalists.org/

Joy de Looz-Corswarem
EMMA

www.magazinemedia.eu

Joy de Looz-Corswarem

ENPA

Angela Mills Wade

EPC

Wout van Wijk NME

NME

[1] The undersigned associations agree that to avoid misinterpretations, Recital 35 must be clarified as follows during the negotiations:

35) The protection granted to publishers of press publications under this Directive should not affect the rights of the authors and other rightholders in the works and other subject-matter incorporated therein, including as regards the extent to which authors and other rightholders can exploit their works or other subject-matter independently from the press publication in which they are incorporated. Therefore, publishers of press publications should not be able to invoke the protection granted to them against authors and other rightholders. Authors whose work is incorporated in a press publication shall be entitled to an appropriate share of the new additional revenues press publishers receive for the secondary use of their press publications by information society service providers in respect to the rights provided for in Article 11 paragraph 1.

WHAT IS IT?

BACKGROUND

Europe's copyright framework is not fit for purpose in today's digital environment.

MYTHBUSTER

FAQs

There's a lot of misinformation about what a publisher's right is - get the facts here!

Need more information? Check out the frequently asked questions for a detailed overview.

A PUBLISHER'S RIGHT:

IN BRIEF

The proposal by the European Commission to include publishers as rights holders under the EU copyright framework is an historically important step and the necessary precondition for guaranteeing media pluralism as an essential basis for freedom of opinion and democracy in the digital world.

Today, European newspaper and magazine publishers are reaching more consumers than ever before, but in spite of investing heavily in adapting their businesses to the realities of the digital environment, publishers still don't have an adequate way to protect their investments.

To remain competitive and independently financed, Europe’s publishers need to be able to compete on all platforms. Whilst publishers have successfully transitioned from analogue to digital, they will only reach their potential with an appropriate and updated legal framework that addresses the complexities of online copyright and licensing and gives publishers the legal resource to protect their investment in the original, professional content that underpins the freedom of the press and democracy.

What publishers need is a “publishers’ right” granting publishers the legal protection and clarity already afforded to broadcasters and film and music producers.