Press releases
Tomorrow, 11 January, the EPP group in the European Parliament will kick off what will be a busy year for debates, hearings and legislative progress on the controversial EU copyright reform.
Europe’s leading Newspaper and Magazine Publishers’ Associations EMMA, ENPA, EPC and NME have welcomed the European Commission’s proposal for a Publisher’s Right within the context of copyright reform. The Publisher’s Right would recognize publishers as rightholders in EU copyright law alongside other neighbouring rightholders in the media and creative industries. This would 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.
The coalition of publishers organisations said: “Those of us lucky enough to enjoy life under a democracy often take press freedom for granted.Yet it is that press freedom and the provision of 24/7 news, entertainment, sports, political enquiry and investigative journalism that underpins our democracy. Press publishers are doing something that is essential to protect. Breaking news or in-depth investigative reports, sports coverage or feature writing is not just popular to read and share across social media, but expensive and risky to produce.”
The coalition is calling on all the EU institutions to support this proposal.
Five reasons to support a Publisher’s Right:
A free and independent press is the cornerstone of our democracy: the publisher’s right will go a long way to securing the future of a free press
More security and investment for professional journalism
Publishers will be empowered to negotiate business terms for use of their content, independent of the size of their company
More content will be available as publishers will have the necessary tools to secure revenue for their valuable content
Readers will benefit from a large variety of content on all kinds of platforms, which they can continue to link to and share with friends and family, encouraged by publishers
Background:
On a daily basis, European newspaper and magazine publishers produce thousands of articles which, in the age of the internet, can be partly or fully copied, recycled and marketed by third parties within just a few seconds. Press publishers have long underlined the importance of being able to get a return on their investment in professional journalism, in particular, in the context of third parties’ commercial use of their products, in order to continue their important role of providing information, entertainment and opinion in our democratic society.
What remains certain is that the publisher’s right will have no impact on the freedom of the internet, in particular, on linking. All regular copyright exceptions, such as those relating to quoting, illustration, research and private copying, etc. will still apply.
For more information, please visit www.publishersright.eu.
For further information contact:
Joy de Looz-Corswarem
EMMA EU Affairs Manager
+32 2 536 0608
The European Magazine Media Association, is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms, encompassing both paper and digital formats.
The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) is the largest representative body of newspaper publishers across Europe. ENPA advocates for 14 national associations across 14 European countries, and is a principal interlocutor to the EU institutions and a key driver of media policy debates in the European Union.
