Netflix, the collecting of Germano, Marcoré and Santamaria sues for related rights

Listen to the audio version of the article

In some ways it is the application to cinema and TV series of the same principles that led to the tear between Siae and Meta, with the consequent removal of the music administered by the Society of Authors and Publishers from Instagram and Facebook. Artisti 7607, collecting related rights founded by Elio Germano, Neri Marcorè, Claudio Santamaria, Michele Riondino, Alberto Molinari and Carmen Giardina, sues Netflix. Reason: The market-leading streaming platform continuously exploits protected audiovisual works without providing collecting societies with the relevant exploitation data and, in fact, evading the obligation to remunerate performers with an “adequate and proportionate” remuneration established by the copyright directive.

Related rights, according to current legislation on copyright, are the royalties due to the performers of a work – whether they are the actor who plays a film or the guitarist who plays in a song – and the resulting compensation it is no longer transferable, contrary to what happened in the past. On the subject already in September 2021 Artisti 7607 denounced, in a public conference, the “unacceptable closure of negotiations by large users” such as, for example, Netflix, Apple and the other platforms of what is in fact a new business.

The breaking up of the table between Siae and Meta, in a certain sense, represented a call to arms and it was decided to go to legal action. «It is the inevitable consequence – declares the president of collecting Cinzia Mascoli – of sterile and long negotiations during which the platform has not complied with its legal obligations, has not provided complete data relating to the exploitation of audiovisual works, to the visualizations and the revenues achieved in various years. All essential elements to obtain an adequate and proportionate remuneration for the artists».

Artisti 7607 points out that for highly successful works, artists are paid insignificant amounts that are totally unrelated to the profitability of the works themselves. «We expect – adds the president – support and vigilance from the institutions to protect our rights. The rules are there today, you just have to enforce them. Paolo Calabresi, founding partner of Artisti 7607 and councilor of Unita echoes them: «We are deeply in solidarity with the Siae authors and musicians and have long been aware of having to counter the excessive power of the large streaming platforms to protect, in our sector, professional dignity and rights of performing artists’.