Open letter to Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron
Dear Madam Chancellor,
Dear Mister President,
We, the Presidents of EANA (European Alliance of News Agencies), EFJ (European Federation of Journalists), EMMA (European Magazine Media Association), ENPA (European Newspaper Publishers’ Association), EPC (European Publishers Council), News Media Coalition (NMC) and NME (News Media Europe) – representing the interests of tens of thousands of news brands, newspapers, magazines, news agencies and journalists across the EU, have been following closely discussions on the proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. Online platforms routinely use publishers’ and news agencies’ content to generate advertising revenues and drive up ‘engagement’ on their services without any compensation to journalists, agencies, publishers which are the ones who own and produce the content, invest in the future of journalism and hold the editorial and legal responsibility of this content. Without a clear legal protection of press publishers’ content such as proposed in article 11, the sustainability of independent press and professional journalism is at risk, which is why the European legislator needs to redress the existing imbalance in the online ecosystem.
We therefore strongly support the EU’s efforts to introduce fairness and to ensure that online platforms remunerate content producers, journalists and the media adequately.
Last September, an overwhelming majority of the European Parliament voted for a strong neighbouring right for press publishers, journalists and news agencies by guaranteeing the protection of very short excerpts of press publications. This was a strong democratic signal to Member States to move forward with the reform.
The negotiations have reached a critical juncture and we are deeply concerned that the failure by Germany and France to reach an agreement in the coming days would jeopardise the whole EU’s copyright reform.
We respectfully urge you to take action now and to reach a timely agreement on the copyright directive in order not to put at risk a reform that is key to ensure the sustainability of a free and independent press which is at the heart of our democracies.
Yours sincerely,
Mogens Blicher Bjerregard
Peter Kropsch
Xavier Bouckaert
Carlo Perrone
Christian Van Thillo
Clive Milner
Fernando de Yarza
Signatory organizations:
The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) is the largest representative body of newspaper publishers across Europe. ENPA advocates for 16 national associations across 13 European countries, and is a principal interlocutor to the EU institutions and a key driver of media policy debates in the European Union. See: www.enpa.eu
The European Magazine Media Association (EMMA) is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms. EMMA represents 15,000 publishing houses, publishing 50,000 magazine titles across Europe in print and digital. See: www.magazinemedia.eu
The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) is a cooperation and information exchange forum of European news agencies. The organisation is powered by each of the 32 member companies representing around 30 European countries with around 750 million inhabitants. EANA works on promoting copyright, access to quality information, technological development of media and, freedom of press. To secure an economic and legal environment for news agencies operating in accordance with these rules is therefore one of EANA ́s main concerns. See: www.newsalliance.org
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 320,000 journalists in 70 journalists’ organisations across 44 countries. The EFJ fights for social and professional rights of journalists working in all sectors of the media across Europe and is recognised by the European Union and the Council of Europe as the representative voice of journalists in Europe. See: www.europeanjournalists.org
The European Publishers Council (EPC) is a high-level group of Chairmen and CEOs of leading European media corporations actively involved in multimedia markets spanning newspaper, magazine, book, journal, internet and online database publishers, and radio and TV broadcasting. See: www.epceurope.eu
The News Media Coalition (NMC) is based in London and Brussels and is an international industry organization comprising reputable news brands. Together – as news publishers and news agency content suppliers – they represent a significant proportion of the global news media sector, each day generating millions of pieces of news which flow directly or indirectly to news consumers. The NMC works to protect news content and news business freedoms from arbitrary controls. See: www.newsmediacoalition.org
News Media Europe (NME) represents the progressive news media industry in Europe – over 2200 European titles of newspapers, radio, TV and internet. NME is committed to maintaining and promoting the freedom of the press, to upholding and enhancing the freedom to publish, and to championing the news brands which are one of the most vital parts of Europe’s creative industries. See: www.newsmediaeurope.eu
Contacts:
Alexandru Ion Giboi
EANA
[email protected]
+40 727 876 646
www.newsalliance.org
Renate Schroeder
EFJ
[email protected]
+32 2 235 22 00
www.europeanjournalists.org
Ilias Konteas
EMMA
[email protected]
+32 2 536 06 00
www.magazinemedia.eu
Ilias Konteas
ENPA
[email protected]
+32 2 536 06 03
www.enpa.eu
Angela Mills Wade
EPC
[email protected]
+32 2 231 12 99
www.epceurope.eu
Andrew Moger
NMC
[email protected]
+44 7836 572273
www.newsmediacoalition.org
Wout van Wijk
NME
[email protected]
+32 473 685864
www.newsmediaeurope.eu
