News

At the occasion of today’s World Intellectual Property Day, that is a yearly celebration of IP's role in stimulating innovation and creativity, EMMA welcomes     the announcement made by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) to support the publishers’ right as part of the EU copyright reform. EMMA President Auke Visser stated “Following the recent public statement of the EFJ, it is an important step to see that the European Federation of Journalists acknowledges the need for a publisher’s right at EU level which contributes to press sustainability and employment on a long term. This is a common objective that we want to achieve in order to safeguard press freedom and journalism.”

Today, 26 April, is World Intellectual Property Right Day, a celebration of creativity, invention and intellectual endeavour. This day recognises an established legal system designed to reward all the creators, designers and innovators who enrich our lives and contribute to global progress. IP is the backbone of creativity and provides individuals and companies with the confidence to invest, invent and create, in the knowledge that their endeavour will be protected at law and recognised as belonging to them so they can be paid when it is used and enjoyed by others.

Today’s vote of the European Parliament’s Culture Committee does not meet the expectations of the European press sector.

Publishers of newspapers and magazines in Europe today sounded the alarm ahead of a vote in the European Parliament on the proposal for an updated AVMS Directive that could seriously undermine media pluralism and press freedom in Europe.

Published yesterday evening, Tuesday, 7 March, EP Rapporteur Therese Comodini Cachia’s report on the EU copyright reform package recommends rejection of the proposal for a Publisher’s Right that would go some way to address the major challenges faced by publishers striving to finance an independent press and professional journalism in the face of wide-spread theft of their digital content and diversion of revenue-earning potential.

Ahead of the upcoming votes on the revised EU Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market, European publishers’ associations are launching the #SaveYourPress campaign to promote support for the Publisher’s Right across the EU.

Last week on Wednesday, 8 February the Future Media Lab., EMMA's think tank initiative, hosted a Future Media Lounge session in the European Parliament.

Today, 14 February, the plenary assembly in Strasbourg approved an own-initiative report on the role of whistleblowers in the protection of EU’s financial interests, put forward by the Budgetary Control (CONT) Committee earlier this year.

In an unusually competitive election, Italian MEP Antonio Tajani was elected the 29th president of the European Parliament earlier this week after striking a deal with between his political group, the European People’s Party, and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Roularta Media Group and Duval Union selected 9 start-ups for the Roularta Mediatech Accelerator programme.

Recently conducted online research shows an icon aimed at providing greater transparency and control over online behavioural advertising (OBA), commonly referred to as interest-based advertising, is improving consumer attitudes towards OBA and growing in awareness. The study of 15 European countries was commissioned by theEuropean Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA), a European industry coalition setup to licence the ‘OBA Icon’ to companies involved in Online Behavioural Advertising across Europe andTRUSTe, a leading data privacy management company.

Today, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal for an ePrivacy Regulation concerning the respect for private life and personal data in electronic communications and repealing the existing Directive 2002/58/EC (last modified in 2009). Among other things, the proposal introduces new rules governing the use of cookies, which will significantly affect the business model of the digital press.

On Friday and Saturday protests against press freedom restrictions resumed in Poland after the ruling Law & Justice (PiS) party pushed through regulations that would limit journalists’ access to the Parliament building as from 1 January. The protests that followed saw opposition MPs block access to the main parliamentary chamber and the forced removal of demonstrators who blocked the building's exits by police. 

The proposal by the European Commission to include publishers as rights holders under the EU copyright framework is an historically important step and the necessary precondition for guaranteeing media pluralism as an essential basis for freedom of opinion and democracy in the digital world. Today, European newspaper and magazine publishers are reaching more consumers than ever before, but in spite of investing heavily in adapting their businesses to the realities of the digital environment, publishers still don't have an adequate way to protect their investments.

Today, Sweden celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Swedish Press Act. The act, which was the world's first legislation on freedom of expression and freedom of information and constitutes a vital part of Swedish democratic society, states that all citizens have the right to freely seek information. The European Magazine Media Association recognises the importance of this legislation, and joins in celebrating freedom of expression, transparency and media in Sweden and across Europe.

The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) and the European Magazine Media Association (EMMA) jointly welcome the European Commission’s proposal     for a Directive as regards rates of value added tax applied to books, newspapers and periodicals that endorses the possibility for all Member States to choose to apply zero, super reduced, or reduced VAT rates, which are currently applicable to printed newspapers and magazines, to the digital environment.

Last week on 16 November, the Future Media Lab. hosted its 7th Future Media Lounge session in the European Parliament, this time focusing on the review of the Audiovisual Services Media Directive, which is currently under discussion in the European Parliament, and the impact this could have on Europe's press publishers.

With media independence a hot topic across Europe and around the world, European publishers today called on the Juncker Commission to ensure that future “ePrivacy” rules do not needlessly deprive them of a critical revenue stream as they manage the difficult transitional to digital. The publishers are concerned that the current review of the ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC, also known as the ‘Cookie Directive’), may lead to new constraints on low-risk data processing for advertising purposes, including rules that would in effect force them to provide content for free. Over 90 European publishers, brought together by 26 European national Interactive Advertising Bureaus (IABs), IAB Europe and leading European publisher associations EPC (European Publishers Council), NME (News Media Europe), EMMA (European Magazine Media Association) and ENPA (European Newspaper Publishers’ Association), co-signed a letter to Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Günther Oettinger highlighting their concerns.

Members of the EMMA Board and a delegation of European publishers met with Commissioner Günther Oettinger yesterday evening to discuss the future of Europe’s publishing sector. On this occasion, Oettinger expressed his broad support for publishers, saying that they play a necessary role in the creation and dissemination of quality content, which is crucial for a democratic society. He also participated in a Q&A with EMMA members, during which the Commission’s copyright proposal, proposal on reduced VAT rates, and e-Privacy proposal were discussed.

Today, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, EMMA continues to strongly condemn acts of violence or harassment against journalists around the world.