OUR BOARD

Culture shapes all human and social action in depth: “Books have a special role in this: they are the basis of understanding and the discovery of commonalities and differences”, adds Vice President Miguel Ángel Serrano. “This is even more essential because in the pandemic, societies not only distanced themselves physically, but also increasingly mentally. In order to preserve the book culture of the future, it is essential to defend the role of authors –this ranges from the economic and legal rights to the issue of well-planned social systems and the appreciation of authors for a democratic society.”

Democracies under Pressure: we must not look away: Alena Makouskaya from Belarus stresses the importance of freedom of expression and democracies getting under pressure: “Being from a country which has come to legal default, we usually look at the EU countries as a good example for us”, the re-elected EWC Board Member says. “As the freedom of expression is a cornerstone of every healthy society and one of the main concerns of EWC, I hope the EWC study Writers under Pressure will be realized, to evaluate the situation of book authors in the context of various levels of restrictions – state restrictions, market, hate speech, – and to take timely countermeasures. Limitations and boundaries do not come all over sudden.”

The digital future and the need of sustainable education: Newly elected Board Member points out “One of the dynamic challenges became obvious during the Pandemic: the value gap in the area of digital exploitation of books and text works. Every use must be remunerated, that is the core rule, but it has been undermined by streaming flat rates and overall shrinking shares for e-books and audio books. Therefore, one of our tasks should be to closely monitor the developments of the electronic market, including in artificial intelligence – and to enforce fair rules in the interest of authors.”

Member States are now more than ever requested to raise the budgets: For educational, academic and teaching materials, instead of promoting further exceptions and limitations. Finnish non fiction writer and re-elected EWC Board Member Markku Löytönen adds and recommends: “The ‘information food chain’ starting with those producing and providing – be it literature, articles, e-media, or educational and academic book and text works – must be kept alive and flourishing”.

The national implementation of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, “which is due to become mandatory on 7 June, offers a unique opportunity to set the course for the next twenty years and to commit to writers and translators –and therefore invest in culture and strong democracies. The EWC therefore calls on all EU Member States which have not done so already, to move immediately towards an author-friendly transposition, including the transparency obligation also for third parties and the proportionate remuneration.”, Vice President Maïa Bensimon underlines.

The Corona crisis “revealed not only the predetermined breaking points of the legislations around intellectual property, but also in societies and their fragility in general”, says Nina George, President of the European Writers’ Council. “With this in mind, the newly elected EWC Board has several tasks to face: To continue to defend the economic and legal situation of writers and translators –and to understand the social ruptures that have become visible. These also affect authors, question their role anew, and require a holistic policy.”