Artists want big techs to pay copyright – 05/06/2023 – Ilustrada

Professionals such as musicians, actors and screenwriters are part of a movement to defend the payment of copyrights for works that circulate on the internet. Currently, artists find it difficult to receive remuneration when their content is reproduced on networks.

Considered unpopular, the theme was in the PL of Fakes News, but deputies thought it best to transfer it to a bill by Deputy Jandira Feghali (PCdoB) of 2019 that deals with the same subject.

“The withdrawal of copyright from the Fake News PL happened due to the difficulties presented at that time in approving the project. Despite this, there was a very acute demand from artists and authors to see their remuneration occur, especially in the digital environment”, says Jandira Feghali.

The urgency of the deputy’s project should be voted on later this week. If approved, it can be appreciated directly in plenary, without having to go through committees beforehand. The rapporteur is in charge of the leader of União Brasil in the Chamber, Elmar Nascimento (União Brasil-BA), ally of President Arthur Lira (PP-AL).

Jandira says that the project benefits professionals such as screenwriters and directors. Currently, they don’t get paid when their content is played on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

This is the opposite of what happens to musicians, who are paid when their songs are featured in series and soap operas.

The Brazilian Association of Script Authors, Abra, has been defending a collective management model, as already happens in the case of music, with the Central Office of Collection and Distribution, ECAD, in which screenwriters could earn percentages for screenings, but that has been vetoed in contracts with platforms.

To shed light on this issue, artists decided to mobilize and launched a campaign in defense of copyright. Personalities such as Caetano Veloso, Glória Pires, Letícia Sabatella and Fernanda Torres participate in the initiative.

“The fight belongs to all of us. The Internet cannot be a lawless land as it has been. Real life does not allow this. Why does the virtual insist? Why does the big techs not want it? Why is Google worried?” asked singer Zélia Duncan, one of the participants.

Despite being seen as a priority for the artistic class, the payment of copyrights is considered an indigestible topic for technology giants, companies like Google and Meta – owner of Facebook and Instagram.

“Companies are reticent because they only look at profit, as well as streaming platforms”, says Jandira Feghali.

Lawyer specializing in copyright, Ana Paula Borges Martins says that this subject still generates controversy precisely because of the financial issue.

According to her, the big technology companies will bear the costs, which will probably be passed on to the consumer.

Martins says that, currently, platforms transfer few resources to artists, despite profiting from the content they produce.

“In music, there is this movement of complaining that the platforms pay little. But imagine the audiovisual people who don’t even earn anything”, she says.

“I think this movement by artists regarding copyright is very valid. If the music pays, why not also pay for the audiovisual.”

Discomfort with values ​​is not just a reality in Brazil. Screenwriters in the United States decided to go on strike earlier this month, claiming, among other reasons, that streaming platforms pay little for their work.

Before, screenwriters were paid for reusing their works, for example, in television reruns or DVD sales. In practice, every time an episode was shown, the writers were paid. But with streaming, they get a fixed annual payment, which they want to increase.

Lawyer Ingrid Diniz says that the copyright law, enacted in Brazil in 1998, already covers content circulating on the internet.

The novelty, she says, is that the text that was in the Fake News PL seeks to make providers responsible for paying the amounts to artists.

“That’s why companies are outraged. They have never been brought into the conversation on this subject before. If this bill is passed, they will also be responsible for the content circulating on their platforms.”

However, Diniz considers that the text has vague points that leave the market insecure. “The text does not specify values, the period of remuneration and where this payment will come from. It says that it will leave the providers, but for which cases?”, she questions.

Despite finding it necessary to make adjustments, the expert says it is important that the text advances in Congress.

“If that doesn’t happen, we will have a loss for the authors. The artists will have their contents shared and reproduced, but without receiving anything for it.”