The coll­ec­ting socie­ty VG Media wel­co­mes today’s decis­i­on in favour of a con­tem­po­ra­ry copy­right by the Coun­cil of the Euro­pean Uni­on. Fol­lo­wing the clear vote of the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment on 26 March 2019, the con­fir­ma­ti­on of the 28 EU Mem­ber Sta­tes marks a mile­stone on the road to more fair­ness and equa­li­ty online. Digi­tal cor­po­ra­ti­ons exploit the con­tent pro­du­ced by crea­ti­ve minds, often wit­hout any com­pen­sa­ti­on. Through the new direc­ti­ve, tho­se con­tent pro­du­cers such as publi­shing hou­ses and artists, will now final­ly be entit­led to a remu­ne­ra­ti­on.

It is the inten­ti­on of the new direc­ti­ve to make it obli­ga­to­ry for online plat­forms to nego­tia­te with the respec­ti­ve aut­hors, pro­du­cers, publishers and/or artists the usa­ge of their works. This long over­due amend­ment final­ly adapts copy­right to the eco­no­mic rea­li­ty in the digi­tal world. Tho­se cor­po­ra­ti­ons from the digi­tal sec­tor to date have ear­ned bil­li­ons through adver­ti­sing by exploi­ting copy­righ­ted works and con­tent wit­hout ever com­pen­sa­ting publi­shing hou­ses or aut­hors appro­pria­te­ly.

Mar­kus Run­de, Mana­ging Direc­tor of VG Media: „This cer­tain­ly is a good day for free­dom and our demo­cra­cy in Euro­pe. By resis­ting the irra­tio­nal cam­paigns led by online giants against this important reform, the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment and the Coun­cil of the Euro­pean Uni­on demons­tra­ted their impe­tus for poli­cy making.”