Hubs, GRD and Goulash – an update on pan-European digital licensing

A mixture of rights owners and collection society figures gathered together this morning for a frank and open discussion on how pan-Euro licensing has developed over the past two years. In attendance: GEMA CEO Harold Heker; UMPG Executive Vice President International Andrew Jenkins; Nokia (UK) Senior Legal Counsel Albert Pastore; Artisjus (Hungary) CEO Andras Szinger and ICMP Chair/Sony ATV (France) Nicolas Galibert. The session was moderated by CISAC board Vice-Chair and SAMRO (South Africa) CEO Nicholas Motsatse.

Since the last Copyright Summit two years ago in Washington DC, it was unanimously agreed that there have been developments with regards to pan-European online licensing, even if the reality of the situation still remains that a ‘rights user’ (for example, a digital music service company) has to negotiate upwards of 30 licenses should they wish to launch a pan-European service.

Two relatively recent developments were touched upon by the panel: the creation of a Global Repertoire Database (driven by, among others, PRS For Music in the UK) and regional ‘Hubs,’ which can license content on a localised basis.  However, both initiatives are still in development and will take some time to officially launch.

Pastore was quick to point out that the problems of pan-Euro licensing are creating what he sees as “missed opportunities”. He explained, “The average consumption of music is still 2 Euros per user for digital music in Europe. In some cases, such as Italy, it is as low as 60c, yet in the US and Japan it can be as high as 9 Euros per person. If a service is launched in the UK and Finland, it goes without saying that people in Hungary and Italy should also be able to access that same service.”

Heker concurred with Pastore, but immediately drew the argument back to piracy. “I totally agree with that, but our problem is that 90% of the market is illegal. We can’t function a legal market without tackling that problem,” he stressed.  Jenkins added, “It’s not the people who come to us for a license who are the problem; it’s the people who don’t come to us that are the problem.”

Galibert, as a French citizen and music publisher, explained how the country’s graduated response Hadopi law has had a dual effect: “We have seen – via the Hadopi legislation – that copyright awareness has improved in the users mind. Two years ago we were discussing legal frameworks and now I am proud to say that in France we are changing attitudes.”

Szinger on the other hand was more concerned with developments surrounding localised content. “What we would like to achieve,” he suggested, “is the re-aggregation of local repertoire into the wider pan-European services, and that requires a specific type of agreement or negotiation.” Szinger said he welcomes the idea of regional ‘Hubs’ but believes that the benefits will be limited. “It is all well and good to look at the situation from London, but we have to make sure that they understand our local situation.” He jokingly concluded that his society might set-up its own ‘Hub’ under the acronym GOULASH.

Nicola Slade