7,000 French artists demand that streaming platforms pay them what they’re owed – Technologist

Benoît Magimel, Valérie Donzelli, André Dussollier, Nicole Garcia and Swann Arlaud are among the 7,000 performers who signed a petition released on Monday, May 13, calling for “fair remuneration” from streaming platforms. “For the past three years, the law has existed, but it has not been applied” to related rights granted to artists who are not the direct authors of the work, according to Adami, the collective management organization for performers’ intellectual property rights.

Indeed, the European directive of April 15, 2019, on copyright and performers’ remuneration establishes a framework for the remuneration of artists whose work is broadcast on streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV. In France, an order transposing this directive, dated May 12, 2021, leaves it up to performers’ union representatives, producers and platform executives to reach an agreement.

Flat-rate remuneration

“All our letters asking them to come to the table have gone unanswered,” lamented Anne Bouvier, president of Adami, as she left a meeting at the Ministry of Culture. She was hoping to find a sympathetic ear to urge the platforms to take part in a tripartite discussion. Bouvier pointed out that agreements have already been signed in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium.

The signatories of the petition would like to move from flat-rate remuneration, which does not take into account the number of views, seasons, availability and streams, to payment proportional to the success of the work on which they collaborate.

According to the collective bargaining agreement, the minimum base fee for a day’s shooting of a drama program is currently set at €293, while in the film industry is €412. Of course, the remuneration of stars, negotiated by their agents, goes far beyond this. Actors with intermittent status are calling for a “success bonus.” They want to follow the example of other copyright management organizations (such as SACEM, SACD and SCAM), whose agreements with platforms are already very attractive to artists.