European Parliamentary Report supports the policy ambitions of film distributors

FIAD is glad that that MEPs in the European Parliament have voted to approve the Report “Europe’s Media in the Digital Decade.”

Of particular interest to FIAD is that MEPS voted to emphasise the importance of territorial exclusivity for the film sector. The text from the report states: “whereas territorial and exclusive licensing rights are vital for the film and audiovisual sectors in order to preserve and guarantee their creativity, financing, freedom and long term sustainability;”

The below extracts from the report (find here) also support FIAD’s efforts in the following themes:

• More funding opportunities: Notes that the audiovisual sectors urgently need strong and sustainable support via the various EU funding programmes, such as Horizon Europe, the Creative Europe MEDIA strand and the Cohesion Funds; recalls that, as regards accessing funds, the administrative barriers should be lowered and more flexibility should be provided to applicants, in particular to SMEs, which represent the vast majority of stakeholders in the sector;

• A strengthened Creative Europe: Recalls that Creative Europe MEDIA should endeavour to balance funding between the Member States and between the different clusters and genres it supports; recalls that it is essential to the sector that Member States nurture an ecosystem of independent players as a key driver of diversity of creation;

• Tackling online piracy: Recognises the need for ambitious, clear and legally binding measures to fight intellectual property infringement, including online piracy, and to efficiently tackle all forms of circumvention; considers that the negative impact of piracy on Europe’s cultural and media landscape needs to be addressed with practical tools

• A level playing field: Considers that the transparency of algorithms and recommender systems is needed to ensure the fairer presence of European works on online platforms and to provide real consumer choice;

• The prominence of European works: Considers that more visibility should be given to EU programmes and initiatives aimed at promoting the production and circulation of high quality European works with international potential across the EU and beyond; reiterates the need for tailored support in this regard;

FIAD would like to give a special thanks to MEP Farreng, MEP Melbarde and MEP Zovko for their cooperation throughout the parliamentary process. In particular for recognising the valuable role played by film distributors in connecting films to audiences and for acknowledging the legal framework that film distributors need to thrive.