News from ECSA: March 2025

On 28 March, a broad coalition of authors, performers and other rightsholders organisations active across the EU’s cultural and creative sectors, including ECSA, strongly rejected the General Purpose AI (GPAI) Code of Practice, as drafted by the AI Office. The Code of Practice should detail the AI Act rules for providers of general-purpose AI models. However, its third draft creates legal uncertainty, misinterprets EU copyright law and undercuts the obligations set out in the AI Act itself. Rather than providing a robust framework for compliance, it sets the bar so low as to provide no meaningful assistance for authors, performers and other rightsholders to exercise or enforce their rights. It would also not ensure that GPAI providers comply with either EU copyright law or the AI Act. Therefore, the statement’s signatories (listed on the page below) see the third draft as completely unacceptable, and cannot support the GPAI Code of Practice in its current version.

On 20 March, ECSA Secretary General Marc du Moulin participated in the Culture Compass stakeholder consultation, led by Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef. The Compass is an overarching strategic framework to guide and harness the multiple dimensions of culture. We thank Commissioner Micallef and CULT Committee Chair Nela Riehl for their strong opening words on two key objectives: improving the working conditions of artists and cultural professionals and enhancing artistic freedom. During the consultation, Marc underlined that improving the working conditions of creators and artists and ensuring artistic freedom cannot be achieved without respecting and valuing creators’ works, including when these are exploited by AI companies or streaming platforms. Therefore, it's paramount that a) AI respects the rights of creators and the fundamental principles of consent, transparency and remuneration, and that b) music streaming becomes sustainable for creators by implementing the European Parliament recommendations adopted in 2024. Marc also stressed the necessity of a sector-specific approach with a comprehensive strategy to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of the European music sector. We look forward to working with the European Commission to ensure the Culture Compass can truly deliver concrete initiatives to improve the working conditions of cultural creators.

On 12 March, French ECSA member Syndicat national des auteurs et des compositeurs (SNAC), together with Syndicat national de l’édition (SNE) and Société des Gens de Lettres (SGDL) announced a lawsuit against Meta before the third Chamber of the Paris Judicial Court for its massive use of copyrighted works without authorisation from their authors and publishers, to train its generative AI models. François Peyrony, President of SNAC, stated: "The objective, through this unprecedented action in France, is also to open the way to other similar actions in order to protect authors, if necessary, from the dangers of AI, which plunders their works and cultural heritage to train itself and which produces ‘fake books’ that compete with real books by authors." Find the full press release (in French) below.

On 27 March, the European Commission published a study on contractual practices affecting the transfer of copyright and related rights. The study provides an overview of contractual practices used in creative sectors, including audiovisual and music, and focuses on the transfer of copyright and related rights from authors/performers and audiovisual producers to contractual counterparts exploiting these rights. Among other things, the study analyses the use of contractual practices involving a full transfer of rights, such as buy-out contracts, and examines the relevant provisions of the 2019 Copyright Directive on the remuneration of authors and performers.

Young composers are the future of the film music industry, but rarely get the chance to showcase their talent to a (non-)professional audience. Therefore, the World Soundtrack Academy each year offers screen composers under the age of 36 the chance to participate in the WSA Film Music Composition Contest and win the Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer Powered by Vienna Synchron Stage at the World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert. Submissions are open until 12 May 2025. More info and registrations below.

On 29 April, concert venue Ancienne Belgique (AB) and KU Leuven organise the panel “KU Leuven x AB Talk: How is Spotify changing the way we experience music?” in Brussels, Belgium. The panel explores how streaming platforms like Spotify have substantially changed consumers’ listening habits. From algorithmically compiled playlists to the emergence of mood music – music is no longer something we discover but something that is served to us. What implications does this have for the music ecosystem? Find more information on how to register below.