CISAC position paper on the transfer of value

The issue of ISPs, the problematic scope of safe harbour and the resulting transfer of value in the digital market are at the top of CISAC’s agenda. Following the guidance of the Board of Directors, the Global Policy Committee and the Legal Committee, CISAC has developed an international lobbying campaign for the favourable interpretation of existing safe harbour laws in a manner that obliges ISPs to remunerate creators for acts covered under exclusive rights.

These lobbying efforts are particularly important since there is currently “momentum” to tackle the issue at the European level. As part of the Copyright Package released by the European Commission (EC) on 14 September 2016, the draft Copyright Directive has taken a first step in the right direction by introducing several provisions intended to rebalance the transfer of value. These provisions intend to clarify the rules that should apply to copyright-relevant acts of User-Uploaded Content (UUC) services and to provide new obligations for them. 

In this context, CISAC has published a position paper on the transfer of value that contains relevant figures from the CISAC Global Collections Report, particularly those related to collections from digital usage as well as from other studies (such as the Roland Berger study). 

The position paper takes into account the positions of other international/European organisations regarding transfer of value, particularly those of GESAC, SAA and EVA.

The document is serving as a lobbying tool in countries where debates on copyright reform are ongoing and especially where new rules on the liability of online service providers in the digital environment are under discussion.