Law enforcement, data gaps, digital monopolies and an urgent call for authors at the table, not on the menue: The EWC sets its primary goals for the Commission’s Culture Compass

The Political Guidelines for the European Commission 2024-2029 attach importance to culture as part of what defines the unique identity of Europe. The guidelines put a focus on making it easier for people, particularly younger generations, to benefit from Europe’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.

The Mission Letter of Glenn Micallef, Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, underlines the need for a more strategic policy approach to culture, embedding it in the overarching policy goals, ensuring it becomes more accessible for all. The letter calls for a new Culture Compass, an overarching strategic framework to guide and harness the multiple dimensions of culture.

From 15th April to 30th of May (deadline expanded) the European Commission invited organisations, individuals and Member States for evidence on the most crucial points within culture policy areas. The adoption of the Compass is scheduled for the last quarter of 2025.

Writers and translators need in the European sector: Law enforcement – and to be understood in their complex working and living conditions

The over one million European book authors, originators of 600,000 new titles annually and generating a value of 23,5 billion euros in the book sector, have seen long existing problems grow exponentially due to the COVID-19 crisis and the development and use of generative AI (GAI).

(1) LACK OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION ON AUTHORS RIGHTS AND COPYRIGHT!

The EWC surveys* on the impact of the CDSM Directive (EU) 2019/790 and on Writers Contracts show a lack of enforcement mechanisms to achieve transparency and appropriate, proportionate remuneration. The mediation entities required by the CDSM Directive are lacking in all EU Member States (MS). However, no author dares to go to court for financial reasons or fear of blacklisting. The CDSM Directive placed great emphasis on associations so that they could e.g. recommend fees or clauses.

However, there is no EU-wide adjustment in competition law since 2019 (associations arent allowed to advise their members or make public recommendations). The lack of mediation entities makes it impossible to revamp existing collective agreements or to establish new ones.

(2) GAI AND THE DESTRUCTION OF AUTHORSHIP AND AUTHORS RIGHTS!

The misinterpretation of the TDM exception under Art. 4(3) of the CDSM Directive by AI developers is leading to the mass exploitation of working hours, thus the investment of European professional writers. Clarification and impact assessment are needed, e.g. of the consequences on falling earnings due to job losses because of AI, on effects on social security payments and loss of skills and metiers. As long as the TDM exception continues to be misinterpreted, title-specific transparency on the part of AI developers must be ensured as an equivalent to the enforced reservation of rights for specific works. The template of the AI Act must not be an active inhibitor of transparency and thus of law enforcement.

(3) WHO IS WHO: THE LACK OF GRANULARITY!

An EU wide harmonisation of wording is needed regarding the legal necessary categorisation of authors, artists, performers, the social and professional situation or the legal and tax relevant attributions regarding independent working authors, e.g. (solo-)self-employees freelancers employees. Thus, the pandemic, in which half of the MS did not structurally provide any aid to self-employees or freelancers in culture, has shown that this was partly due to incomplete data.

(4) CLOSE THE DATA GAP!

To have appropriate measures or programmes applicable to authors, close the EU Data Gap. Authors deal with irregular income, unpaid working periods, investment on their own economic risk and to work often after official retiring age, while not having access to social security systems. A European Writers Report, conducted by the EU authorities together with European Federations, would be the basis for evidence and a greater coherence between EU financing instruments as well as a guide future actions on culture.

(5) DIGITAL MONOPOLIES AND THEIR UNFAVOURABLE IMPACT!

Only a few digital, largely non-European companies control Europe’s communication structures. This allows them to dictate non-European values: The only criteria are marketability and success, rather than diversity of culture, especially from small languages. European authors become less visible and transparency is lacking.

(6) INTEGRATE THE REPRESENTATIVES OF AUTHORS INTO POLITICAL DECISION-MAKING!

The EWC calls on Member States to integrate the experienced representatives of authors into political decision-making and to support their ability to conclude collective agreements.
* EWC surveys: https://europeanwriterscouncil.eu/surveys/

To the EWC submission.

 

EWC’s members submissions – selected statements

“Key focus points for a cultural compass should be fair renumeration, fair practices and a strong stance against copyright abuse and unsolicited or undocumented use of AI or misinformation, thus failing both artists, the public and consumers.

Overhauling the EU-wide competition law specifically for the arts, will ensure a focus on the importance and job creation in the cultural sector as well as help enabling organisations to advise members.

We also strongly support and refer to the recent open letter from Italy, Portugal and Spain on The value of the Culture and creative sectors in the development of AI: safeguarding copyright and related rights and ensuring transparency in the Code of Practice under the AI Act.”––Danish Authors Society (to the full submission)

 

“We are concerned about writers’ ability to practice their profession, as digitalisation and the rapid expansion of streaming services in Finland have had a significant impact on writers’ income. In addition, copyright is threatened by the delayed regulation of artificial intelligence. A writer is an artist who creates works of fiction such as novels, essays, and poems. Writing a book is a lengthy process that can take years.

In Finland, the book sector is the fourth largest employer within the creative industry. It employs publishers, bookstores, reading and listening services, libraries, film and theater companies, events, studios, printers, and media outlets. The industry also has ripple effects on tourism and other industries. Writers play a vital role in keeping our thinking, writing, and reading skills alive. Literature significantly contributes to developing literacy and vocabulary for everyone, especially children and young people. It helps preserve the diversity, expressiveness, and distinctiveness of European languages.”––The Union of Finnish Writers (to the full submission)

 

“Cultural sector face challenges brought about by digital use of works, including declining creator incomes, as more users or entities assume the right to access creative works at minimal or no cost. In the book industry, this issue is particularly relevant to the markets for e-books and audiobooks, where authors and translators are finding themselves in an increasingly precarious position.

On small language areas, it is essential that authors and the economic foundations of their livelihoods, including their opportunities to sustain themselves through their work, are recognized within the cultural ecosystem. By integrating cultural creators and copyrights from the outset into the promotion of the cultural economy, accessibility, and green values, it is possible to foster a genuinely sustainable and vibrant cultural life in the long term.

In literature, this means fostering a future for diverse, broad-ranging, and compelling works. However, the current trajectory of digital usage in literature appears to lead in the opposite direction: toward a future where only the best-selling, fast-paced, and audio-oriented literature seems to thrive.––SANASTO, the Finnish Literary Copyright Society (to the full submission)