by
Wout van Wijk*
Reality is quite different - while the industry is very competitive, with many different titles on different platforms published in different geographies and targeting different audiences, both offline and online, publishers need to continuously innovate and cater for the news consumption preferences of their reader-base.
And these preferences are constantly shifting. Research suggests that over half of Europeans under 18 see social media platforms such as Facebook as their primary source for news content. This new reality requires adaptation of the news publishing sector. There’s a need to innovate in terms of news products as well as in ways to monetize on these products. Because, and this is important, content may be free to access, it is not free to create.
Adapting to these changing realities requires investments. However, as advertising revenues for press publishers are in decline, and have been for many years now, this is not evident.
Currently, in a society that relies heavily on digital, including for the consumption of news, the need for a clearer legal copyright framework, recognizing investments in content, is needed to guarantee the sustainability of the news media sector.
Therefore, on 14 September the European Commission published its proposal for a review of Europe’s copyright legislation. It was warmly welcomed by the publishing sector in Europe, as it includes a so-called “publishers right”. Whereas in the music and the film industry a similar right has been in existence for years, press publishers were, till now, not recognized as rightsholders over the content they invested in. The move by the European Commission therefore seems a logical extension to another of Europe’s creative sectors, but it is met with great resistance from the tech industry.
In a digital world, a value chain can be very long and complex. Looking at some of the well known examples from other creative industries, like Spotify and Netflix, we see that some players in that value chain are dedicated to production, some are dedicated to making the content available and some are even finding better and smarter ways to provide content to the consumer. This ecosystem finally creates value for every single user and the content becomes available at reasonable prices.
However, the sustainability of these environments shouldn't be taken for granted. Their success depends on a common recognition of their role in the system but also the recognition of the value of every single player in the field. This is what this copyright reform is trying to address - enabling a workable and sustainable way to enforce copyright by rightsholders who are continuously investing in preserving quality journalism, content that is subject to editorial oversight, written by journalists that are granted the freedom to produce quality content.
While heavily criticized by internet platforms like Facebook and Google, the introduction of publishers rights is about cooperation, and acknowledging the role of the publishers in this value-chain. While they have grown valuable businesses using publishers’ content, without investing in the content itself, the European Commission’s proposal now introduces a better balance in the asymmetric relationship between publishers and internet platforms to negotiate a fair remuneration for the use of publishers’ content.
In order to make investments, attract resources to do so, and so on, one needs a stable and predictable environment. This doesn’t only hold true for the publishing sector, but for virtually all sectors. The introduction of publishers rights, and thereby the recognition of publishers as rightsholders, provides legal certainty against which the sector can invest in, and build on a sustainable future.
This legal certainty doesn’t only help the news media industry, it also helps internet platforms, startups and anyone else who wants to build a business based on news media content in understanding where they stand. This is important if we want to build a bigger, better and more sustainable European news media ecosystem. A bigger pie altogether, not just a bigger piece for some.
Enforcement is key. Publishers may decide to enforce their rights or not, either collectively or individually. This is a future-proof right, which - in its enforcement - is likely to lead to the conclusion of specific licensing agreements with those who currently discriminately exploit our content at a grand scale. These agreements are common practice in other creative sectors.
Fair and sustainable agreements for the massive commercial use of journalistic content will ensure that the sector will keep having the resources it needs to grant journalists the economic and legal certainty they need to keep producing independent and high quality journalism.
These agreements will be about restoring fairness and sustainability not only towards the press publishing industry but also towards consumers: with the fair remuneration of the industry in the digital age, Europeans will continue to be able to access quality press content allowing an informed democratic debate.
Freedom of the press is more than simply a policy priority. It is the foundation on which European democracy, and European civilization, is built. It is the guardian of every other individual liberty we as European citizens take for granted – of thought, conscience and prayer, of the judiciary and the right to a fair trial, of free assembly. Where the press falters, either because of a direct attack on free speech or because of commercial failure, the quality of our democracy suffers.
*Wout van Wijk is Executive Director of News Media Europe (www.newsmediaeurope.eu)
By: N. Peter Kramer
