September 19, 2016

The PPA has welcomed the European Commission proposals to recognise publishers as rights holders in EU copyright law.

The PPA says that the Commission’s proposal seeks to provide legal protection for publishers, safeguarding the return on their investment in the creation of professional content.

Owen Meredith, Head of Public Affairs at the PPA, said: “Copyright law might seem removed from the glamour of magazine media, but the framework in which publishers operate and the ability to invest in creative content and quality journalism – and make a profit – depend on a robust copyright system.”

“The proposals announced by the European Commission are a welcome addition to the EU copyright regime, stating in law that publishers are rights holders, as contracts assert in the UK. Even though the UK is leaving the EU, the Digital Single Market remains important for UK publishers and the rules governing the use of our content in Europe will be important for British publishers, whatever our relationship after Brexit”.

The European Magazine Media Association (EMMA), which represents magazine and newspaper publishers across Europe and of which the PPA is a member, described the proposals as “historically important”.  Reform of the copyright system for publishers, EMMA said, would help ensure publishers receive an appropriate share of the value created by their content, and avoid “further negative consequences on media pluralism, democratic debate and quality of information”.

The PPA notes that President Jean-Claude Juncker’s said, in his State of the Union speech, “I want journalists, publishers and authors to be paid fairly for their work, whether it is made in studios or living rooms, whether it is disseminated offline or online, whether it is published via a copying machine or commercially hyperlinked on the web”.  To read the PPA’s press release in full, click here.