It took less than sixty French MPs (to compare with the 577 elected members of the French equivalent of UK's Lower House) who attended a Parliament night session late last December to provoke this sort of national mess, the secret recipe of which is known, like that of the genuine casoulet, locally only… Well, these ones couldn’t have done better for their own promotion, and rose instantly from a rather obscure position at the national level to the very enviable status of freedom champions, Internet icons, and consumer-friendly politicians… Wow! What a program! They voted to amend the proposed -and quite controversial- Copyright law to legalize the sharing of files over the Internet. In addition, they chose to raise a monthly flat fee that would compensate artists and everyone else who can claim rights.
The vote was proposed as a surprise amendment to the projected Article L-122-5 by the UMP (centre right coalition) MP Alain Suguenot, although this one is supposed to be a support of the current government... The translation of the surprise amendment is: "Authors cannot forbid the reproduction of Works that are made in any format from an online communication service when they are intented to be used privately and when they do not imply direct or indirect commercial purposes."
Vive la France?
In reality, however, lobbying groups, such as the "Association des Audionautes" (Association of Audionauts) the Artists-Public Alliance and others have been playing their game, backstage. These non-profit lobby groups had proposed early in the debate that a monthly fixed rate comprised between €2 to €6 could be gathered through ISPs. In its current state, the action of uploading would keep its illegal status, and there is a proposed opt-out option clause for broadband users, who then would lose the right to download copyrighted contents.
It is a major blow for the French government, especially the Culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (© ® ™) who had been, like all his predecessors since two decades, constantly pulling the sooo popular “Cultural Exception“ chord, at home and abroad, to the discontent of almost every partner of the French: The so-called "Exception culturelle", or “Cultural Exception“ is a long-standing ethnocentric invention from French political and cultural elites that has been looming for years now, the real purpose of which being to keep the very unpopular market competition away from the French sacred land –Those who are old enough will recall the fight during the Reagan era... Paradoxically, the Internet and copyright law problematics put the French legislator, together with industry majors and artists, back in the global, not so "exceptional", liberal business pond... The consequence is that the French elite had been forced, like any villain on the planet, to scribble a proposal which is paving the way for another ultra-protective, Great Wall of China-like, legal package. This, until this night debate on the 21 December puts everyone, and above all, all these mercantile questions, back in the spotlights, the stage, and the public space...
The now famous Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (© ® ™) will fight this vote, and already gathers the support of a number of a crowd of artists, all very keen at protecting their mode of life and rights holders’ money. Several popular figures have, however, supported the amendment, arguing that the problem lies within the Cinema and Music business model’s decline.
The Parliament's vote is fighting the position of both the French government and the EU Commission, who want to put file sharers in jail, and piously hope that losses and leakage (understand: Hacking), hence the threat to rights holders' compensation, will magically disappear...
Conspiracy? A naughty hacker, and a champion of freedom?
(picture on the right: Mr Suguenot, who proposed the controversial amendment)
The amendment is a proposal which extends the old idea of “digital media access license”, “ACS”, or “Digital Pool”, with the purpose to compensate artists and right holders on the basis of fixed, flat fees. It is supposed to put a final point to the everlasting and sterile fight between Pro- and Anti- Copyright supporters. Such debates occur in every place where Movie, Music majors, and artists feel imbalanced by the rise of Internet-driven, illegal distribution models.
Supporters of “flat fees” and other fixed rights, however, may well have a stronger point this time. According to reliable surveys and studies, French consumers buy an average… TWO audio CDs, and TWO DVDs a year, at an average public price of €15, an average amount which is even lower in the USA ($5 per head on music)… In such view, issuing a fixed monthly €5 would bring four times as much as the per capita spending back in the wallets of our dear artists and industry majors. Other studies in the US have shown that such fixed fees would compensate both movie and music industries for more than 20pct of their current revenues. So, can the industry stick to its old business model, like old-fashioned airlines who line up to file for Chapter Eleven?
Other studies (one was published in France a month ago only) suggest that there is a strong correlation between the usage of P2P services, and music and video consumption: According to these studies, P2P addicts are actually the biggest CD and DVD buyers. In addition, several majors have recently announced their intention to go for such Peer-to-Peer channels, indicating that short sightedness and narrow view are, after all, not equally shared within the movie and music industry.
Visit the Motion Picture Association Website here
Visit the Association des Audionautes website (in French, sorry) here
Visit the French Parliament website (in French again... look for the "Projet de loi relatif au droit d'auteur et aux droits voisins dans la société de l'information") here