{"id":4933,"date":"2015-01-29T06:18:24","date_gmt":"2015-01-29T06:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skylight.gr\/administrator_wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/01\/29\/european-independent-labels-against-european-union\/"},"modified":"2015-01-29T06:18:24","modified_gmt":"2015-01-29T06:18:24","slug":"european-independent-labels-against-european-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/2015\/01\/29\/european-independent-labels-against-european-union\/","title":{"rendered":"European Independent labels against European Union"},"content":{"rendered":"


Independent\u00a0music companies launched a unique Digital Action Plan today,\u00a0calling for a new European industrial policy\u00a0to drive the digital market through the cultural\u00a0and creative sectors,\u00a0which account for 4,2% of EU GDP\u00a0and\u00a07.1 million EU jobs<\/a>.The role of culture in Europe\u2019s digital market will be one of the issues debated in the European Parliament today during an\u00a0extraordinary meeting of the Culture and Education committee with Digital Economy and Society Commissioner G\u00fcnther Oettinger. MEP Sabine Verheyen, Co-ordinator for the EPP group in\u00a0the Parliament\u2019s culture\u00a0committee\u00a0commented:\u00a0\u201cThis Action Plan presents very practical ways to boost creativity through\u00a0smaller actors\u00a0and\u00a0deliver a dynamic digital single market\u00a0built\u00a0on\u00a0diversity.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the strands of Europe\u2019s new\u00a0industrial\u00a0policy would be a range of measures to\u00a0boost SMEs including independent music companies, who account for 80% of jobs and 80% of investment in new music in Europe today.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

IMPALA also asks the EU to rethink how citizens, artists and businesses engage online. The\u00a0\u201crules of\u00a0engagement online\u201d are\u00a0important in the music\u00a0world with reports surfacing last week that\u00a0YouTube is continuing\u00a0the same abuses which prompted IMPALA to\u00a0lodge a complaint to the EC last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the debate on copyright a hot topic, the action plan takes a robust stance and calls on the EU to reinforce copyright as a fundamental right, a liberator of the creativity that drives the digital market. The importance of\u00a0stopping the abuse of the so-called \u201csafe harbour\u201d exemption is also underlined, as well as not\u00a0transferring creators\u2019 rights to trade to those who are behind calls for weaker copyright.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Helen Smith,\u00a0Executive Chair of IMPALA commented:\u00a0\u201cAn industrial policy for\u00a0culture is\u00a0a\u00a0pre-requisite to Europe\u2019s digital economy. This involves reinforcing copyright and clarifying what operators like YouTube can and\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0do. Ensuring a successful digital single market also implies a\u00a0host of other measures such as promoting diversity in a measurable way and devising a new regulatory, competition, social and fiscal framework for smaller actors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Michel Lambot, Co-Founder and Co-President of\u00a0[PIAS], one of Europe’s leading independent labels,\u00a0and board member of IMPALA, said: \u201cA\u00a0healthy licensing environment is\u00a0fundamental. We look to the EU to take away distortions to the digital single market. It must be clear that ‘safe\u00a0harbour’ is no place to hide in Europe if you are running a\u00a0music\u00a0service. \u00a0Let\u2019s couple that with a\u00a0serious\u00a0industrial policy that boosts smaller players, gets more investment, provides more exposure for all\u00a0artists, and then of course\u00a0quantifies the results.\u00a0This is what our Action\u00a0Plan is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the ten areas flagged for action is growing investment through measures such as tax\u00a0credits, new accounting\u00a0standards and\u00a0revised\u00a0statistical codes. IMPALA also asks the European Commission to\u00a0step up\u00a0and broker a\u00a0charter and scoreboards to boost\u00a0diversity on European radio and other media offline as well as online. This is timely with the news last week that\u00a0European radio\u2019s top 50 plays featured only one independent artist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 10 points:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reinforcing the rights that drive the digital market and grow\u00a0Europe’s\u00a0copyright capital<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Giving citizens the best digital infrastructure in the world<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Improving pluralism and diversity online as well as offline<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Revisiting the \u201crules of engagement\u201d online<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Growing Europe\u2019s \u201cmissing middle\u201d by improving conditions for smaller actors<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Effectively tackling websites which are structurally infringing<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Increasing investment through a new financial approach to culture<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Introducing greater fairness in taxation<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mapping how creativity works and measuring the sectors<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0Placing culture and diversity at the heart of Europe\u2019s international work<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Helen Smith concluded: “The aim of our Digital Action Plan is to inspire\u00a0decision-makers,\u00a0ensure\u00a0Europe\u2019s position\u00a0as a global power,\u00a0and\u00a0re-engage\u00a0Europe\u00a0with its creators and\u00a0citizens.\u00a0Our aim\u00a0is to set\u00a0new standards to make Europe the best place in the world for artists and other creators and for culture enthusiasts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Source: IMPALA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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