Commission publishes study on contractual practices affecting the transfer of copyright and related rights – EWC findings for the book sector

The Commission’s study analyses the use of contractual practices involving a full transfer of rights, such as buy-out contracts, and assesses how such contractual practices affect authors’ remuneration and producers’ ability to invest in creative content. The EWC’s Contract findings 2024 contributed significantly to the paper.

Brussels, 27 March 2025

The study under the lead of DG CNECT provides an overview of contractual practices used in certain creative sectors (audiovisual, music, visual arts, video games, and literary works), focusing on the transfer of copyright and related rights from authors/performers and audiovisual producers to contractual counterparts exploiting these rights. On 27 March, the paper (268 pages) was published, citing the findings of the European Writers’ Council on several occasions.

 

The EWC conducted an extensive study on the same topics among its member organisations in 2024. The study team – Vice President Maïa Bensimon and Political Officer Nina George – analysed  a broad range of contractual aspects. The EWC findings provided results and insights to the Commission’s Study on contractual practices affecting the transfer of copyright and related rights.

From March to July 2023 the European Writers’ Council (EWC) monitored the contractual situation of fiction writers in 19 EU, non-EU, and EEA countries and the effect of the 2019/790 (EU) Directive on Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market (CDSM Directive) on publishing agreements in the European book sector, where applicable.

It also monitored the contractual situations in the EEA and non-EU countries Iceland, North Macedonia, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK, related to remuneration, transparency rules, revocation, and related regulations, within an online survey comprising 43 quantitative and qualitative questions including open-end individual comments and case studies.

Not all of the countries analysed fall under the regime of EU law or the CDSM Directive. Nevertheless, some non-EU and EEA countries have taken the Directive as a model for their own national drafts; others have comparable practices around contracts, which has enabled the country comparison of the evaluation for 19 countries beyond the 27 EU states.

 

 

DOWNLOAD THE EWC FICTION WRITERS CONTRACTS REPORT 2024: EWC CONTRACT REPORT FICTION 2024

23 WRITERS’ ORGANISATIONS  FROM 19 COUNTRIES RESPONDED TO ASPECTS OF:

• transferred rights and limits, including buy-out-practices, where relevant;
• remuneration and royalties, including lump sum payment, where relevant;
• digital and electronic rights and usages;
• transparency and accounting.
• Public Lending Right (PLR) and e-lending, where applicable.

The responding organisations represent mainly fiction writers (95.45%), but also poets (81.82%), nonfiction writers (59.09%), children’s and young adult book writers (77.27%), and, in part, educational writers and playwrights. The countries monitored are: Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.

To the EWC Contract Report 2024

To the Commission’s Study 2025