Open Letter To The Swedish Parliament “Make The Right Choice For Europe”
Swedish Parliament’s debate on the Copyright Directive: Make the right choice for Europe
Dear Member of the Swedish Parliament,
We are writing to you on behalf of the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA), which represents over 50,000 professional composers and songwriters in 26 European countries. As you will soon give your opinion on whether Sweden should confirm its support for the Copyright Directive, we call on you to seize this unique opportunity to support this essential piece of legislation for Europe’s future.
On 14 September 2016, after years of consultations and debates, the European Commission adopted its Proposal for Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market. After 30 months of democratic and comprehensive debates where all parties have been heard and have influenced the discussions, the final text now on the table is a fair and reasonable compromise that has been recently approved by the European Parliament. It will allow Europe’s cultural and creative industries, which produce EUR 509 billion in value added to GDP, provide 7.5 % of the EU’s work force, to further contribute to the EU’s and economy in terms of employment, investment, growth, innovation and competitiveness on a global scale.
Throughout this process, European authors have called on EU Member States to seize this once in a generation opportunity to place creators at the center of copyright law and improve their remuneration. In particular, this Directive aims at rebalancing the relationship between creators, citizens and global platforms (Article 17). It also includes unprecedented harmonised provisions to the benefit of all authors and performers (Articles 18 to 22), small or big, to rebalance the systemic weak bargaining situation they find themselves in when they sign contracts with producers and publishers. New copyright exceptions in the areas of text and data mining for research, education and preservation of cultural heritage, are also included in the Directive (Articles 3 to 11).
Sweden has played a prominent and decisive role in forging this fair compromise within the Council of the European Union. Most notably, it successfully advocated to promote the Nordic model of collective licensing with an extended effect (Article 12) in the final text.
We now hope that Sweden will confirm its support and contribute to promote a sustainable future for Europe’s authors and cultural diversity, while making European copyright fit for purpose in the digital age. You send a strong signal to the future generations who want to write, compose, create so that they can be fairly remunerated.
Don’t miss this chance.
Sincerely yours,
Alfons Karabuda, ECSA President
Marc du Moulin, ECSA Secretary General