Authors, composers, performing artists and music publishers for a compensatory contribution on the Internet

©Konstantinos Kokkinis

For years, authors, composers and performing artists have been the victims of the unauthorized use of their works and recordings on the Internet. The law on Creation and the Internet is an initial response to this situation, but it will not be enough.

Regardless of the effectiveness of this law, the present state of technology does not make it possible to achieve any lasting eradication of the circulation of recordings from illegal sources. An appreciable share will always remain, in particular through messaging and the emergence of new social uses of the Internet.

Internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile operators have built their communication and growth on the downloading capacity they offer to the Internet users, with music serving precisely as a formidable incentive. Nevertheless, even when the great majority of exchanges in the networks are illegal, ISPs escape all liability and remain exonerated in particular from a financial standpoint from the obligation to support the music industry.

This situation, which has lasted for nearly 10 years, can only lead in the long term to drastic impoverishment of both the number and the quality of works. It has already seriously eroded the revenue of musical creators and performers.

Bernard Miyet, CEO of the SACEM Management Board: “The explosion of unauthorized file sharing is linked to the development of broadband Internet. What is shocking is that the main beneficiaries of piracy have never been asked to compensate creation. Nonetheless, for works to exist, creators and performers must be able to earn a living from their work!”

Bruno Boutleux, ADAMI General Manager: “There is a lot of talk of the recording industry crisis. Yet when phonograph producers announce their losses of 696 million euros since 2002, this corresponds to 97 million euros lost for musical artists.”"

This is why musical authors, composers, publishers and performing artists, united around their collective management societies SACEM and ADAMI, ask that the public authorities rapidly institute a contribution deducted from ISPs’ overall turnover.

This contribution could be modulated according to the overall volume of unauthorized exchanges. It should take into account both the economic damage already suffered and all future damage. Its proceeds will go to rights holders through their collective management societies, the most reliable and transparent way of achieving fair distribution of remuneration.

This solution, whose implementation should be given top priority for the music sector, most strongly affected today by unauthorized file sharing, could subsequently and secondly be extended in principle to other content industries. Thus, audiovisual works and cinema, despite the difference in their funding system, are or will soon be just as much affected by illegal availability of their material on the Internet.

Press contacts
SACEM
Fabienne Herenberg
33 1 47 15 45 55 / 33 6 84 95 29 80

ADAMI
Caroline Buire
33 1 44 63 10 84/ 33 6 82 20 35 78