European Federation of Journalists

Journalists’ organisations demand fair share in EU Copyright Directive submission

Picture credit: Emmanuel Dunand / AFP.

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) submitted on 6 March a position paper to the European Commission (EC) on the implementation of Article 17 of the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, to ensure protected journalistic works available on online content-sharing service providers (“OCSSPs”) are effectively and fairly remunerated.

Article 17 of the new Directive aims to close the “value-gap” between rights-holders and online platforms and to ensure a fair share of the wealth generated by platforms, – tech giants in particular – using protected works, is distributed to creative industries and their authors.

The position paper was submitted to the EC following a series of six Stakeholder Dialogue meetings on the implementation of the article it organized and IFJ/EFJ participated in. The institution has called a seventh meeting on 30 March.

Structured around six key points, the paper clarifies the federations’ joint position on Article 17 and offers in-depth advice on licensing, remuneration, transparency and complaints and redress mechanisms in the context of this provision.

It stresses the importance of safeguarding contents’ sharing and availability and suggests platforms should proactively seek broad licensing schemes to this end.

The document also underlines key issues to be considered to achieve balance between competing fundamental rights, offering tips to ensure both copyright and the article’s exceptions and limitations are respected and harmonized across platforms and EU countries.

In a letter cosigned by them, IFJ and EFJ General Secretaries Anthony Bellanger and Ricardo Gutiérrez wrote: “We welcome this consultation and highly appreciate the opportunity to submit this paper. Our federations will continue to monitor the implementation of this legislation and to demand fair remuneration for journalists and maximum transparency mechanisms in the context of this provision”.

Click here to read the position paper

For more information contact the EFJ-IFJ Authors’ rights adviser at sarah.bouchetob