Suggesting that the General Approach adopted Culture Council towards the AVMS Directive goes further than the European Commission proposal and promises a positive result on promotion of European works ahead of negotiations on the final text with European Parliament and Commission, the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA), whose members represent over 120,000 screenwriters and directors, has welcomed the Council’s position.

The announcement came during the Cannes Film Festival and followed a call by over 90 filmmakers for Europe to be more ambitious with it cultural policies and supportive of authors in its Copyright review. The adopted position of the Culture Council is particularly positive as it:

• It supports quotas of 30 per cent for European works on VoD platforms in line with the European Parliament – an essential, measurable criterion to ensure prominence in an increasingly algorithm driven digital environment.
• Recognises that services that target markets and Member States with ambitious cultural programmes and financial support schemes are subject to the same rules as other operators targeting the same market.
• Reins in the Commission’s proposal for excessive advertising during films on TV, as also proposed by the European Parliament.

“The Council’s general approach establishes two very positive principles,” declared Cécile Despringre, SAA’s Executive Director. “Firstly, that European works, and the cultural, creative and linguistic diversity they represent, need to have an opportunity to reach the audience in a crowded market. Secondly, that fair competition is essential and services operating in the same market need to be subject to the same fiscal and cultural policy rules.”

Other posts by Colin Mann:

1. Analysis: SVoDs drive $220bn content spend
2. A TikToking clock heading towards regeneration – or not?
3. European pay-radio: Getting ready

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