ECA sent the following comment to DG InfoSoc Consultation on Creative Content Online in the Single Market, referring a.o. to the EU-XXL Resolution 2008.
Krems 29. February 2008
Comment on Creative Content Online
The European Council of Artists (ECA), representing interdisciplinary artists' councils and organisations from 25 countries, would like to express its wish to see music and audiovisual works more widely available to diverse audiences.
Music is made to be heard.
Films are made to be seen.
Artists must be paid for their work.
Europe has a veritable treasure of film and music that can be made more available with new technologies. ECA welcomes the ongoing discussions to find a solution on multiterritorial licensing that is acceptable to all stakeholders. Only then will the continued involvement of artists be secured and the interests and the voice of artists from smaller nations be safeguarded. ECA supports the observations made in the Levai Report adopted by the European Parliament on 13 March 2007.
As there are clear financial incentives, not only for artists and cultural industries, but also for the telecom sector, ECA acknowledges the part to be played by DG-Trade, DG-Internal Market and DG-Information Society. We are concerned by the disconnection of the DG-Education, Audiovisual and Culture from any meaningful involvement in this policy development that clearly falls within its area of competence.
Artists' creative output must also be considered as expressions of the diverse cultures to which they they belong. All European regulation in this area must therefore take into consideration the provisions of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
The ECA Executive Committee has attended the EU XXL Festival and Forum in Krems, Austria, and were involved in the drafting and support the EU XXL Resolution 2008.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Burke,
president