european union

EU committees vote to address ‘value gap’

Two EU culture committees have voted in favour of addressing the ‘value gap’ in the digital music market to bring fairer remuneration for music creators and rightsholders.

Anita Awbi
  • By Anita Awbi
  • 12 Jul 2017
  • min read
Two EU culture committees have voted in favour of addressing the ‘value gap’ in the digital music market to bring fairer remuneration for music creators and rightsholders.

The European parliament’s Culture and Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) committees voted on the EU draft Copyright Directive yesterday (Tuesday), coming out in favour of closing the value gap.

The move has been welcomed by CISAC - the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers - on behalf of millions of creators worldwide.

Gadi Oron, director general of CISAC, said: ‘It is good news to see policy makers in Europe standing up for creativity and culture and voting to close vital loopholes that are harming millions of creators.

‘These two committees have understood the opportunity for Europe to take the lead in making sure creators in the digital market are properly respected and fairly remunerated. We now look for this positive signal to be confirmed in the plenary vote of the European Parliament later this year.’

Earlier this week, shadow culture secretary Tom Watson MP published an open letter, urging European parliamentarians to vote in favour of closing the value gap.

The draft Copyright Directive was originally proposed by the European Commission last September, and supported by PRS for Music.