Copyright project hangs after new impasse – 08/21/2023 – Power

After backstage accusations were exchanged, artists and the broadcasting sector made public the disagreements that stopped the progress of the copyright and journalistic remuneration bill.

The expectation was that the vote had taken place last week, but the absence of an agreement between the groups made the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), suspend the progress of the project, which is no longer expected to be placed on the agenda and can submerge.

So far, there are no new meetings scheduled to deal with the subject, and the text’s rapporteur, Elmar Nascimento (União Brasil-BA), admits to interlocutors that the subject should be stopped, at least for a while.

Bill 2,370 wants to force broadcasters and streaming platforms to make new copyright payments for singers, actors and audiovisual works – the main point of the impasse.

In the same project, it is also foreseen the remuneration of journalistic content by the big techs, a demand of the main communication vehicles, among them Globo and Sheet.

The articulation around the debate even involved First Lady Janja, who supports the artists’ claim, led by actress and producer Paula Lavigne and organized around the 342 Arts Movement.

Artists and broadcasters reached an agreement on the text on the 9th, after a meeting at Lira’s official residence, with the presence of the author of the project, Jandira Feghali (PC do B-RJ), and the rapporteur.

At the meeting, it was defined, for example, that there would be a privileged transition period for Brazilian companies in relation to foreign ones: while those outside the country would start paying copyrights when the law was approved, national companies would have three years to start following those same rules.

The movement was a nod above all to Globo, which also includes Globoplay, which at first would benefit, for example, against Netflix and Amazon Prime.

After the meeting, Lira went so far as to say publicly that the vote was scheduled for last Tuesday (15), but the agreement went downhill after Elmar Nascimento published his report on the project, on Saturday (12).

“I am very sorry that the agreement has retroacted. I only vote on this matter with agreement […] The text needs to be agreed by both parties for the text to be approved in plenary”, said Lira, days later, making it clear that the proposal, now, can fall into oblivion.

The impasse occurred regarding the remuneration of copyrights on contracts already in force.

Individualized copyright negotiation also causes disagreements, that is, the possibility of a broadcaster closing a remuneration agreement on a certain film with an actor different from the rest of the cast, for example.

First behind the scenes, the sectors exchanged accusations about who broke the agreement.

Among those present at the meeting on the 9th, one group stated that it was agreed that the new remuneration rule would apply to all works, including those currently in circulation, while another said that the consensus was that the law would apply only to new contracts.

In recent days, however, the barbs have become public.

On Wednesday night (16), the day after Lira’s declaration, almost 30 entities linked to the artists published a note stating that the companies were intransigent in the negotiation, specifically Abert (Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters) and Abratel (Brazilian Association of Radio and Television), representing the broadcasting sector.

“The artistic sector deeply regrets the intransigence of broadcasting companies in this negotiation. We also regret the resistance of these business sectors in recognizing this constitutionally guaranteed right, the right of artists and creators to be remunerated for the economic exploitation of their works in the digital window”, they said. the artists, in the note.

A day later, on Thursday night (17), Abert and Abratel responded.

“The artistic class intends to receive this new remuneration for audiovisual works produced in the past, whose copyright and related rights for making them available on the internet have already been foreseen and/or paid by the broadcasters and the assignment of rights remains in force”, said the associations.

“The broadcasting sector publicly clarifies that it is not opposed to the recognition of this authorial remuneration for works on the internet. of rights by the artists, if they so wish”, they added.

The two notes state, at the end, that they are willing to continue dialoguing. During the negotiations, representatives of the big techs were not heard.

The copyright project returned to the Chamber’s agenda in the first half, after the failure to vote on the Fake News PL, which also ended up stalled.

So, an agreement was reached so that the part that deals with advertising on the networks, the remuneration of content and artists would be discussed in this other project, with Elmar Nascimento as the rapporteur.