Jean-Marie Cavada (France, EPP)

On 11 September, the European Parliament adopted the report on the “Online distribution of audiovisual works in the European Union” by MEP Jean-Marie Cavada (France, EPP) .
The Parliament’s resolution presents a number of positive provisions for PSM:

•  It explicitly recalls that collective rights management is an essential tool for broadcasters given the high number of rights they need to clear daily.
•  It recommends efficient licensing schemes for the online use of on-demand audiovisual content.It further calls on simplified clearance and aggregation of musical rights in audiovisual works for online distribution.
•  It also stresses the need to create legal certainty as to which legal system applies for the clearance of rights in case of cross border distribution and proposes that the applicable law should be that of the country where an enterprise carries out its main business and where it generates its main revenue.
• Member States are encouraged to promote effective and transparent licensing, including voluntary extended collective licensing, and support the establishment of consistent European rules on good governance and transparency of collecting societies as well as efficient dispute resolution mechanisms.

The EBU hopes that the Parliament’s constructive proposals will be taken into account  by the European Commission as part of its challenge to adapt copyright to the digital environment.  The final report will be soon made available here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/reports.html