WCS11: Stijn Coninx’ Opening Speech Proclaims Creativity Enhances Life

Policy makers and regulators should not categorise creativity as merely products and services that consumers spend money on; creativity makes a difference to people’s lives.
And that should never be underestimated, declared movie director Stijn Coninx (who is also chairman of Belgian collecting society SABAM) during the World Copyright Summit’s opening speech on Day 2.
“People have the right to create, and their ability to keep creating must be defended by all possible means,” he said. That is why you cannot compare an artist’s work with a bottle of red wine, he argued. “You can’t eat or drink pictures or words, but they remain in your memory. You can’t ban music from your mind.”
Consumers’ ability to enjoy those works should be cherished because they contribute to making their lives worthwhile.
So when that famous Swedish band Abba sang “Thank you for the music,” Coninx continued, we must remember that beautiful works need to be traded fairly, if we want more of them.
Written by Juliana Koranteng