New Intellectual Property Act adopted by the Storting

By: CEO of TONO, Cato Strøm

A joint Storting passed a new copyright law last week. TONO is generally very pleased with the result.

The new law replaces a copyright law that has been fragmented, outdated and difficult to access. The Family and Culture Committee's stated main objectives with the new copyright law were, among other things, to secure income for copyright holders so that creative and performing artists could to a greater extent make a living from their activities, and to facilitate investments in creative content.

TONO is generally very satisfied with the result, and hopes that the new Copyright Act will help strengthen the position of copyright holders in their everyday lives, where they face massive pressure to transfer their rights.

Understanding in the committee
TONO found it positive to hear the committee members explain during the Storting's consideration why the Copyright Act is our most important cultural law. The spokesperson for the Family and Culture Committee, Geir-Jørgen Bækkevold, from the Christian Democratic Party, referred to the law as a "foundation wall", and the Socialist Party's Freddy Andre Øvstegård said that "The most important function of the law is to grant exclusive rights to the intellectual property of the person who created it. Intellectual property should be made available to people so that they can experience a rich artistic and cultural life, but if we are to continue to experience music, film, books and images in the future, the artists must be properly paid when we use what they create.” TONO couldn't agree more.

The right to fair remuneration
One of the instruments used in the new law to help copyright holders make a living from what they create is the legalization of the right to a fair remuneration. This is a new provision, and in TONO's view an important signal from the Storting that they want to restore the balance between the parties. The original bill did not contain any provision on a dispute resolution mechanism, something TONO has advocated for a number of years. We have argued that it is far too costly and time-consuming for copyright holders to bring disputes before the ordinary courts. The introduction of a dispute resolution mechanism has been a priority for TONO, and we are pleased that TONO's input has been heard and that the Storting has asked the government to investigate a dispute resolution mechanism for determining fair remuneration.

Thank you to the Family and Culture Committee
TONO is also pleased that Section 71 was not introduced and that the principle of speciality was enshrined in law – especially as a point where the author is the weaker party in the contractual relationship. TONO is also pleased that the issue of the “value gap”, which means that rights holders do not receive remuneration for the extensive use that takes place with international service providers such as Youtube and Facebook, was put on the political map and that the government was asked to continuously assess whether Norway can provide rules to close this “value gap”.

This shows that it is useful to work politically to change the legal situation for the better for copyright holders. TONO will continue this important work in the future, and we will, among other things, closely monitor the investigation work to be done on the classroom rule, where the government will look at whether the provision could lead to future loss of income for copyright holders.

TONO thanks the Family and Culture Committee for the formidable work they have put into this process. They have been responsive and have taken the rights holders seriously. Statements such as Venstres Grunde Alemlands "Artists should be artists. They should spend their time creating, not sitting with a magnifying glass over the paragraphs. You shouldn't have your own lawyer hired to understand what rights you have. Artists are the backbone of freedom of expression. Without art, creativity and creative ability, we are a dead society," shows that the committee has understood how pressured the situation of copyright holders is in their encounter with strong counterparts and at the same time how important the contribution of artists is for us all to have a richer society.

TONO is very happy about that.