EU Law Does Not Adequately Protect Performers, Study Finds

The Association of European Performers’ Organisations (AEPO-ARTIS) has released a study showing that EU legislation does not provide adequate protection to performers for the legal exploitation of their performances on the internet.

The study, titled, “Performers Rights in International and European Legislation: Situation and Elements for Improvement,” [pdf] gives an overview of the legal framework on protection of performers’ rights at the international, European and national levels and assesses the impact of the key EU directives on the actual situation of performers. The findings are based on data from 34 performers’ organisations in 26 European countries. The study does not appear to mention who funded it.

According to the research, the right to equitable remuneration for broadcasting and communication to the public and remuneration for acts of private copying remain a significant source of income for performers, amounting to approximately 92 percent of performers’ collections.

However, the introduction of the exclusive making available right in the 2001 Copyright Directive (Article 3(2) of Directive 2001/29/EC) has barely changed the economic situation of performers, the study finds.

In 2013, the remuneration collected by performers’ organisations for making available of their performances via online demand services was less than one percent of total collection.

In this respect, AEPO-ARTIS proposes to introduce a measure, complementary to the existing relevant provisions of Directive 2001/29/EC, that “should guarantee that performers, in the event that they transfer their exclusive right for the making available of performances on demand, enjoy an unwaivable right to equitable remuneration payable by the user and which is compulsorily administered by a performers’ collective management organisation.”

In addition, to strengthen performers’ rights and their administration, the study recommends to extend the duration of term for audiovisual performances and to maintain private copying remuneration schemes while harmonising the administration of such regimes at EU level.

The AEPO-ARTIS report stresses the importance of collective rights management, stating that “performers’ rights have been most effective where these are compulsorily managed by performers’ collective management organisations.”

 

Image Credits: The Mariinsky Ballet