The European Film Agency Directors (EFADs) share the European Commission’s ambitions to provide a fairer online environment for the remuneration of authors and performers in its proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (Articles 14 to 16). The EFADs welcome proposals that have been put forward by the Commission, the Council, and in the European Parliament, that also incentivise solutions based on collective bargaining agreements. We believe this helps reflect different situations across the EU while ensuring that the objectives of fair remuneration for authors and performers are met.

• As agencies spending public money, the EFADs are absolutely committed to the principle of fair remuneration for all and ensuring that, in an increasingly diverse Europe, people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to work in film and receive fair payment for their work. Indeed, audiovisual works are collaborative works involving many people all of whom, have a fundamental right to fair remuneration and freedom from any kind of exploitation whatsoever.

• The EFADs recognise the specific situation of authors and performers which Articles 14-16 seek to address. Authors and performers are often in a weak negotiating position when they license their rights in their contributions to audiovisual works and it is important to ensure they receive a fair share of the value from the use of their works and performances.

• The EFADs therefore strongly support the principle of fair remuneration for authors and performers, and all other people working across the contractual chain. This should be based on a general principle of transparency across that contractual chain, enabling authors and performers to receive information about the exploitation of the works to which they have contributed.

• In particular, in some parts of the video-in-demand world, information and data about how audiovisual works perform is very scarce. Authors, performers and rights holders are often paid a one-off fee for the licensed use of the works by online audiovisual services and they receive little, if any, information and data in return.

• The availability of this information and data is essential for the audiovisual sector to develop and grow to the benefit of the public, European film culture and the business.

• Authors and performers, producers, distributors and sales agents should be generally encouraged to conclude collective agreements establishing standard reporting statements and procedures, as well as setting norms for equitable and proportionate remuneration of authors and performers for the use of their works and performances, taking into account the specificities of the audiovisual sector as well as the significance of their contribution to the overall work or performance.

• In this regard, the EFADs welcome proposals that have been put forward by the Commission, the Council, and in the European Parliament, that also incentivise solutions based on collective bargaining agreements. We believe this helps reflect different situations in Member States, both small and large, across the EU while ensuring that the objectives of Articles 14-16 are met.

17^th November 2017