EU | Status and working conditions in the creative sector

EU Commission logoThe DG EAC of the European Commission is publishing a study on workers in the European creative sector

According to the Commission, this study, commissioned from the European Expert Network on Culture and Audiovisual (EENCA), comes within the scope of objectives for the New European Agenda for Culture adopted in 2018. Among the aims is helping the Member States ensure fair remuneration for workers in the creative sector through social dialogue and the implementation of an ecosystem favourable to such workers.

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EU | The directive on copyright adopted by the Parliament

Votes count for copyright directive

Adopted on 26 March 2019, the directive on copyright in the digital single market opens up the way for a fair remuneration of performers.

With its partners from the Fair Internet coalition, FIM has been working relentlessly and continuously for four years now to promote performers’ interests with members of the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council.

Our priority aim was to introduce a remuneration mechanism enabling all performers to receive a fair share of the revenue generated online by the exploitation of their recordings, including after the transfer of their exclusive rights.

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Closing the “Creative Skills Europe” project in Göteborg

Göteborg | Final conference of Creative skills projectThe final conference of the Creative Skills Europe project took place on 5 February 2019 in Göteborg (Sweden). It has opened the way to enhanced technical cooperation between the various national skills councils in the performing arts and audiovisual sectors, but also at the level of European social dialogue.

Participants suggested future European initiatives aimed at meeting needs in skills. Exchanges addressed the following issues in particular:
– developing e-learning
– sharing contents to foster and facilitate skills development where freelance workers are concerned
– creating mechanisms for better recognition of qualifications and skills at the European level.

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Europe | Unionizing so-called “atypical” workers

Rotterdam forum on the unionisation of atypical workers

Forum on unionization of atypical workers in the media and entertainment sectors (Rotterdam, 30–31 October 2018)

On 30 and 31 October 2018 in Rotterdam, FIM, FIA, UNI-MEI and EFJ held a forum devoted to unionization of so-called “atypical” workers attended by some fifty union representatives from Europe. The term “atypical” is today in current use and refers to the working relationship of professionals who, in our trades, are generally called “freelance”. The precariousness which characterizes these forms of work results in particular from European rules in the field of competition law.

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The European Parliament adopts the copyright directive

Copyright on screen

On Wednesday 12 September 2018, the European Parliament adopted the proposed directive on copyright in the digital single market. It also gave mandate to the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) to enter into inter-institutional negotiations with the Commission and the Council (trialogue).

This result is a genuine success for performers, achieved after considerable efforts and against a globally hostile backdrop. In reality, the European Commission’s initial proposal fell way short of our expectations, entirely leaving to one side, for example, the central issue of artists’ remuneration where streaming was concerned.

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Europe | Atypical work in the arts, entertainment and media sector

Atypical work

On 8 and 9 September 2016, the final conference took place in Brussels of the joint FIM, FIA, UNI-MEI and EFJ project focusing on the future of work and atypical working in the arts, entertainment and media sector. It was held in the European Parliament and the premises of the European Economic and Social Committee.

Besides representatives from the four organising federations, the conference welcomed European and national parliamentarians, representatives of the European Commission, the International Labour Office (ILO) and the European Trade Unions Confederation (ETUC) as well as jurists specialized in social law.

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OiRA tools for the Live Performance sector

oira-live-performance

Workplaces in the live performance sector are challenged by very diverse health and safety risks. These stem from a broad range of activities such as stage performances, chemical substances used in special effects, the presence of an audience and environmental aspects such as lighting and temperature.

Specific risk assessment strategies are vital to prevent accidents and ill-health in the sector. The OiRA tools are developed to support small enterprises in better dealing with these challenges.

The EU social partners from the Live Performance sector : the European Arts and Entertainment Alliance (EAEA, composed of FIM, FIA and UNI MEI) and Pearle* have released a video on their Online interactive Risk Assessment (OiRA) tools.

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Social partners issue joint opinion on EU Audiovisual Observatory

Social partners in the audiovisual sector issue a joint opinion highlighting the needs of the film and TV industry for reliable and updated statistics on economy and employment market.

At its meeting today the EU social partners in the European audiovisual sector adopted a joint opinion on the role of the European Audiovisual Observatory. Employers and unions call on the Observatory and its stakeholders including the European Commission, Member States to endeavour to add economic and employment statistics to the Observatory’s range of statistical and data aggregation activities.

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European Directive extending performers’ rights adopted by European Council

After several years of uncertainty and series of fresh developments, the European Directive extending the term of protection for performers’ rights in respect to sound recordings has finally just been adopted by the European Council on Monday 12 September 2011.

Against an international backdrop which is largely unfavourable to copyright issues, this initiative has, for several years, had to face often radical opposition from various lobbies, often underlain by arguments that were either inconsistent or simply in bad faith. FIM’s lobbying efforts also encountered resistance from the industry when it came to ensuring that the text really benefitted musicians and not just record producers.

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