Here you can read CEO of TONO, Cato Strøms, comment on the TONO year 2016 from TONO's annual report.
/ 29/05/2017 / codexThrough media reports, we are reminded almost daily that Norwegian music is in the air like never before. Nothing makes us happier than that. Norwegian composers, songwriters, lyricists and artists currently dominate playlists and charts in many territories around the world. According to VG, Elton John is quoted as saying that Norwegian pop artists are "breeding like rabbits."
TONO has a great responsibility to follow up on the global management of the gold that Norwegian composers, songwriters and lyricists are now creating. In order to fulfill and carry out the mandate that Norwegian and foreign copyright holders have given TONO, we need a framework that enables us to do this. As of today, the framework conditions are not good enough, and this refers to both the legal framework in the Norwegian Copyright Act and the content of the EU's various directives in the area.
Let's first look at the proposal for a new copyright law, Prp 104 L, which was sent to the Storting on April 5, 2016. This proposal is the result of the Ministry of Culture's consultation note that was sent out on March 17, 2016. When the consultation note was sent out, the Minister wrote:
"A central principle of the Copyright Act is that there should be a balance between the interests of copyright holders and consumers. The 2015 study on the artist economy showed, among other things, that technological developments have weakened the position of copyright holders. The government wants to restore this balance and strengthen the rights of creative and performing artists, so that it will be easier to sell intellectual property and rights. The government also wants to make the law more modern. It should be more accessible and more technology-neutral. Creative and performing artists are often in a weak position when it comes to selling what they have created. The government is therefore proposing several rules that strengthen their position:"
The government's intentions in the consultation paper may have been good in their wording. Unfortunately, the result in the legislative proposal is different. Several of the proposals that were supposed to strengthen the position of copyright holders have been reversed or severely limited, and have ended up with a business- and user-friendly bill.
This provision could have dramatic consequences, and it is strange that the ministry is proposing such a provision to the Storting without the provision in its current form having actually been subject to consultation.
Among the authors' organizations, performers' organizations and other rights holders' organizations, there is therefore great disappointment after the proposition was sent to the Storting. The government has previously stated that technological developments have weakened the position of rights holders, and that they want to restore this balance and strengthen the rights of creative and performing artists, so that it will be easier to sell intellectual property and rights. In other words, they have not been able to put this into practice.
Until June 12, the Storting will obviously become an arena where authors and artists must know their visiting hours, so that the Copyright Act can receive the rebalancing that the government promised.
There are also obvious weaknesses in the EU's regulations that weaken the position of copyright holders in an era of technological change. There is a particular focus on what we call "the value gap" or "transfer of value". In short, someone makes a profit by disseminating copyright holders' works without being paid for it. The typical example is Facebook. Around 52% of Facebook's advertising revenue is directly related to artistic material. Yet they pay nothing to artists in compensation. ("Cultural content in the online environment: Analyzing the value transfer in Europe" (Report prepared by the consultancy Roland Berger, 2015))
In the fall of 2016, the European Commission presented a so-called "copyright package" in which the problem was highlighted, but without any concrete solutions being derived from it. Negotiations in the European Commission and the European Parliament will continue, and through our lobby organizations, the work on making social media responsible will continue with great strength.
Despite an unsatisfactory legal framework, TONO can show good results in 2016. The number of members is growing strongly, and we can show good growth in most areas. The concert area also shows particularly good growth of 17,5% in 2016, and is an important area for Norwegian rights holders. The digital area is still growing, even though we show a decline in results due to accounting reasons.
Income from abroad also shows that Norwegian music is being used like never before, and the smaller decline from the record year of 2015 is due to the fact that tax authorities in some countries impose particularly extensive documentation requirements before money is released.
TONO wishes all members a good summer.
Cato Strom,
CEO at TONO