Kiri

From: Miruna Herovanu <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2022 4:51 PM To: KUL min <[email protected]> Cc: Andres Jõesaar <[email protected]>; Heili Jõe <[email protected]>; Grégoire Polad <[email protected]>; Mark Lichtenhein <[email protected]>; Anita Debaere <[email protected]>; Vlad- Florin Vita <[email protected]> Subject: Kind request for Ministerial support for a European legislative instrument to fight piracy - commonly supported by Members of the European Parliament and Europe’s Cultural, Creative and Sport sectors To the attention of the Office of Minister Terik Ministry of Culture, Estonia Brussels, 20 September, 2022 Dear Minister, RE: Kind request for Ministerial support for a European legislative instrument to fight piracy - commonly supported by Members of the European Parliament and Europe’s Cultural, Creative and Sport sectors We are writing to you on behalf of several European organisations representing leading businesses in the field of Broadcasting, Sport and live performance, the Association of Commercial Broadcasters and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT), the Sports Rights Owners Coalition (SROC) and the Performing Arts Employers Association League Europe (Pearle). Our members play fundamental roles in funding and supporting Europe’s cultural, sports and creative sectors. Alongside Members of the European Parliament, the sectors we represent have been calling on the European Commission to support jobs and growth by tackling the issue of piracy of live content. An ongoing scourge which drains our ability to reinvest in our respective value chains, weakens Member States’ taxable income base whilst benefiting illegal networks worldwide. This can and should be addressed. The European Commission has the opportunity to do so with a specific and targeted regulation in 2023. We kindly ask for your office to support the attached Call to Action alongside fellow EU Ministers, as well as Members of Parliament and Industry leaders across Europe. We call on your support to ask the European Commission to deliver a legislative instrument to tackle live content piracy as a firm commitment from the European Executive branch to address the issue of piracy with adequate measures. The European Parliament is aware of the magnitude of this problem and has already addressed the need for the EU to pursue a remedy by requesting the European Commission to propose legislation in May 2021, in a resolution on the Challenges of Sports Events Organisers in the Digital environment. Such measures are equally requested and supported by a considerable number of industry leaders. See for example the call by media CEOs in the attached letter addressed to the Internal Market Commissioner, Mr. Thierry Breton, in June 2022. A similar letter, which is attached to this email, has been sent to the Commissioner by the Sports Rights Owners leaders, on June 24, requesting the European Commission’s support for a targeted legislative instrument addressing piracy of live content. Unfortunately, we have yet to receive a clear signal from the Commission that they will address this issue with adequate measures. This is why we call on Member States to request that the European Commission act on this matter with expediency and adequate measures. Should you be willing to lend us your voice, we would kindly ask that you respond to this email at the latest by October 3, 2022. Once all support is registered, the Call to Action with supporting names (no physical signature required) will be sent to the Office of the President of the European Commission, with copy to Vice- President Schinas, Commissioner Breton and Commissioner Gabriel. I thank you for your kind consideration of this request and hope that we may be able to rely on you. Naturally we remain at your disposal should you wish to discuss this matter in greater detail. Yours faithfully, Grégoire Polad, Director General of ACT Mark Lichtenhein, Chairman of SROC Anita Debaere, Director at Pearle- Live Performance Europe Miruna Herovanu | Senior EU Affairs Officer | Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe Rue des deux églises, 26 | 1000 Brussels | Belgium | T:+32 2 736 00 52 | M:+32 485 22 04 91 | www.acte.be | Twitter | LinkedIn Transparency Register N° 18574111503-28 | European Economic Interest Grouping | Register of Legal Entities (Brussels) 0438.023.393 CEO Letter to Commissioner Thierry Breton Brussels, 3 June 2022 PAGE | 1 Brussels, 3 June 2022 Mr Thierry Breton Commissioner for the Internal Market European Commission Rue de la Loi 200 1049 Brussels [email protected] Dear Commissioner Breton, RE: Media CEOs request political support for a new anti-piracy legislative instrument to be included in the European Commission’s 2023 Work Programme We write as leaders of Commercial TV and VoD providers in Europe. Our industry ensures billions of Euro are reinvested each year in quality and regulated news and content. In so doing, informing and entertaining hundreds of millions of households across Europe. 2022 will be remembered as the year Europe adopted a horizontal legislative instrument toremodel its approach to content moderation in the digital sphere. The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a step forward that provides the basis to develop a vertical instrument to address the longstanding problems caused by online piracy. This is a key feature to ensure the DSA delivers effective and specific legal tools for the sectors concerned. This will complement what has already been achieved with the Digital Single Market Directive adopted in 2019. Given your substantial background in business, you are uniquely placed to understand the crucial importance of protecting the investment in European content. For years, European media, sports organisations and live event organisers have demonstrated to legislators the high levels of online piracy that negatively impact our services and the revenue flowing to legal services. Despite unprecedented legal offersi, piracy continues to be rampant online and costs our industries billions each year. Lost revenue impacts content development, professional and grassroots sports, other high end or amateur productions, as well as tax revenue. Piracy also harms consumers who are exposed to risks of malware, data loss, and inappropriate content – with no child protection. We urgently call for a legislative instrument to tackle live content piracy. Live content - such as sports and entertainment - is unique in that the value of the rights is concentrated during the specific broadcast/stream. It is a matter of financial responsibility for the Union to demonstrate the protection of content, including live cultural and creative content that receives EU funding. The only effective tool is a legislative one. A non-legislative approach will allow intermediaries to continue to exploit existing ambiguities in the law and will not have the desired impact. We have seen some noticeable progress in a few Member States. This progress should be expanded and completed at European level while respecting the principle of subsidiarityii. Our teams have and continue to share potential legal approaches and effective tools that should be considered to ensure, in particular, real- time removal of pirated content with no risk of over-blocking. CEO Letter to Commissioner Thierry Breton Brussels, 3 June 2022 PAGE | 2 We therefore kindly request your support in the fight against live piracy by promoting a dedicated legislative instrument in the 2023 Work Programme. This action is widely supported by the European Parliamentiii and the Council of Ministersiv. We see no obstacles to convert this support into a meaningful proposal that will tackle a problem that has been left unanswered for too long. Noting that while this specific instrument is crucial to tackle live piracy, we expect action from the Commission to tackle all forms of piracy at European level. We thank you for your support and remain at your disposal for any further questions. Yours sincerely, Mr. Gilles Pélisson Chairman & CEO, TF1 Mr. Hubertus Maria Habets Mr. Didier Stoessel CEO, Antenna Group CEO, CME Group Mr. Fedele Confalonieri Mr. Paolo Vasile Chairman, Mediaset S.p.A CEO, Mediaset España Comunicación S.A. Mr. Dean Possenniskie Mr. Devesh Raj Managing Director, A+E EMEA CEO, Sky Deutschland Österreich Schweiz CEO Letter to Commissioner Thierry Breton Brussels, 3 June 2022 PAGE | 3 Mr. Anders Jensen President & CEO, Viaplay Group Mr. Eduardo Zulueta Ms Aleksandra Subotic President, AMC Networks International CEO, United Media Mr. Raffaele Annecchino President & CEO, Paramount International Mr. Jan Koeppen Networks, Studios and Streaming President, The Walt Disney Company EMEA Mr. Silvio Gonzalez Moreno Mr. Andrew Georgiou CEO, Atresmedia President and MD, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, Europe ²Copy sent to : • Anthony Whelan, Digital Adviser, Cabinet of President von der Leyen • Werner Stengg, Cabinet Expert, Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Vestager • Marie Frenay, Member of Cabinet, Cabinet of Vice-President Jourová • Agnieszka Skonieczna, Filomena Chirico & Fabrice Comptour, Members of Cabinet, Cabinet of Commissioner Breton • Lauriane Bertrand & Jules Lobry-Deblyck, Member of Cabinet & Policy Assistant, Cabinet of Commissioner Gabriel i EAO Yearbook 2021/2022 Key Trends ii https://rm.coe.int/mapping-report-on-national-remedies-against-online-piracy-of-sports-co/1680a4e54c iii European Parliament’s INI Report on an intellectual property action plan to support the EU’s recovery and resilience and “given the specific nature of live sports event broadcasts and the fact that their value is mainly limited to the duration of the sports event in question, enforcement procedures need to be as swift as possible; considers, however, that the current legal framework for injunctions and for notice and take down mechanisms does not always sufficiently guarantee an effective and timely enforcement of rights to remedy the illegal broadcast of live sports events; considers, therefore, that concrete measures that are specific to live sports event broadcasts should be adopted as soon as possible to adapt the current legal framework to, and render it suited for, these specific challenges;” in INL Report on Challenges of sports events organisers in the digital environment iv Council conclusions setting the EU's priorities for the fight against serious and organised crime for EMPACT 2022 - 2025 Brussels, 24 June 2022 Monsieur Thierry Breton Commissioner for the Internal Market European Commission Rue de la Loi 200 1049 Brussels [email protected] Monsieur le Commissaire, We represent sports events’ organisers, a sector where Europe leads the world. Just like many content producers, our industry relies on Intellectual Property Rights, and especially copyright, to fulfil its major economic impact (more than 2% in GDP and almost 3% in employment according to the EC latest study). An important share of our media rights revenues is also reinvested each year in grassroots sports and community projects across Europe. The Digital Services Act (DSA), which has just been adopted, provides the horizontal platform to now develop a specific instrument to address the longstanding issues caused by online piracy of live events in general, and sport competitions’ broadcasts in particular. Despite the very large availability of sport competitions through different platforms, piracy continues to be rampant online. A report released by Synamedia and Ampere Analysis in March 2021 revealed that sports piracy is costing the industry as much as $28.3 billion a year – around half the entire value of the legitimate market – highlighting the scale of the issue on a global level. Live content - such as sport - is unique in that the value of the content is concentrated during the specific broadcast or digital stream. Digital watermarking and fingerprinting technologies embedded in our content provide legal certainty of our content’s origin, leaving no margin for interpretation. It should therefore be a simple matter for illegal live content to be removed by online intermediaries immediately upon receipt of a takedown notice from their owners - and most certainly before a live event terminates. Current legislation only requires online intermediaries to respond “expeditiously”, leaving the time frame for action ambiguous and undermining real enforcement. We very much welcome your address at the European Parliament CULT Committee on 15 June, where you explained that the Commission was looking into immediate take-down, injunctions and cooperation between national authorities. However, we want to clearly underline that a non-legally binding approach will allow intermediaries to continue to exploit existing ambiguities in the law and will not have the desired impact. Only a legislative initiative clarifying that online intermediaries must respond immediately when the content is time sensitive and clearly identified, would be the “game changer” that we need. This is precisely what the European Parliament asked for in its May 2021 Resolution on the Challenges of sports events organisers in the digital environment. We therefore request your support in the fight against live piracy by promoting a dedicated legislative instrument in the 2023 Work Programme. This will be supported by the European Parliament and a clear majority of Member States. The issue of piracy of live content has been left unanswered for too long and we now really need to convert the try through a meaningful legislative proposal. We also inform President van der Leyen, Vice-President Vestager and Commissioner Gabriel’s Cabinets and remain at your disposal for any clarification you may need. Yours sincerely, Ms Sally Bolton Mr Claus Thomsen CEO of the All-England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon) CEO of the Danish Football League Mr Kevin Lamour Mr Jordi Bertomeu UEFA Deputy Secretary General CEO of Euroleague Basketball Mr Vincent Labrune Ms Donata Hopfen President of the French Football League CEO of the German Football League Mr David Haggerty Mr Nick Bitel President of the International Tennis Federation CEO of London Marathon Mr Marcin Animucki Mr Martin Slumbers President of the Polish Football League CEO of the of the R&A (Golf) Mr Neil Doncaster Mr Benjamin Morel CEO of the Scottish Professional Football League CEO of Six Nations Rugby Mr Javier Tebas Medrano Ms Susan Clare Briegal President of the Spanish Football League CEO of the World Netball Federation END LIVE PIRACY NOW Protect creativity, sports & culture We, the undersigned, call on the European Union to address the issue of piracy and particularly live content piracy. Piracy has and continues to drain Europe’s creative and cultural ecosystems, sports and live performance sectors depriving workers and industries from billions in annual revenues and undermining the sustainability of an essential part of our social and economic fabric. We call on the European Commission to deliver a legislative instrument to tackle live content piracy as a firm commitment from the European Executive branch to address this issue with adequate measures. Notably, guaranteeing that notified illegal content is taken down immediately and blocked before the live event terminates. In so doing, we recall that such measures build on the existing corpus of European and national laws to deliver effective tools to fight and disable piracy networks. Networks incorporating a number of criminal operators that use piracy as a means to launder gains from illegal activities. It is Europe’s duty to protect and promote its world leading creative and cultural workforce and industrial base as well as preserving consumers from the risks tied to piracy. Any non-legislative instruments would be inadequate and insufficient to address the magnitude of the problem. Only a European wide regulation could provide an appropriate answer. We encourage the European Commission to act firmly and rapidly towards proposing such an instrument.