musicNOW
Malta and Slovenia to lead pan-European kENUP initiative
The digital revolution has brought tremendous opportunities to European society at large, and to the creative industries in particular. Recording artists, composers and creatives in many other fields now have the power to reach and connect directly with their fans at a scale never before seen. In parallel, however, many have also seen their work become devalued - while use of their work has increased significantly, incomes have not, and despite the vast volumes of data being generated through consumers’ use of online services, there is limited transparency for artists and composers as to how their work is actually being used online.
Thus, the Republic of Malta is spearheading a pan-European initiative aimed at getting the maximum potential for artists out of EU Directive 2014/26. Creating a fair and transparent compensation system for the digital exploitation of content will be critical for the future success of Europe´s creative community and its digital economy.
With the aim to formally recognize the individual and collective requirements of artists, industry organizations as well as those of the internet industry, a public e-Hearing has been held on October 2, 2017 in kENUP's offices, with close to 300 stakeholders from 20 countries participating either in person or through the internet.
"Artists have spurred Europe ahead with their creativity, and important societal innovation has often followed suit. With the aim of ultimately allowing for an updated and just system for their compensation, we are now reaching out to emerging as well as established artists to better understand their needs."
Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta
Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta Joseph Muscat (Center), Dr. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando (kENUP, right), Holm Keller (kENUP, left)
Minister for Economic Development and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia, Zdravko Počivalšek (Center), depicted with, from left to right, Blaž Golob, Director of European Blockchain Hub; Holm Keller, kENUP Foundation; Nena Dokuzov, Head of project group for new economy and blockchain technologies; Tadej Slapnik, State Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister.
kENUP alligns creative industry blockchain inititiatives under musicNOW
Based on the conclusive findings from the eHearing, kENUP Foundation has decided to formalize its work on creative rights under the umbrella of musicNOW.
musicNOW aims to build a platform that will transform digital licensing by enabling any owner of creative intellectual property to secure the rights in their content, define rules for its exploitation and get paid when it is consumed – ultimately without the need for intermediaries. Thus, musicNOW will embrace author’s rights of creators and publishers, as well as all related rights held by, say, performers and record labels.
As such, musicNOW is developing a blockchain and machine-learning-enabled infrastructure that will enable musicians, photographers and film-makers to take control of their rights and exploit the full potential of the digital market, without having to assign their rights to third parties such as agents or Collective Management Organizations (CMOs).
For content users such as streaming services and online publishers, musicNOW will make it simple, fast and low cost to discover, license and pay for content, resulting in more innovative uses of content and more income for the creative economy.
musicNOW will initially enter the market in rights resulting from streaming of music, in the long tail of this category, and in smaller EU member states. This is since – in spite of the complexity of the current system – there are globally established norms with associated structures that exploiters of streaming music do pay for rights they use, while creative rights holders in the long tail of the repertoire very often do not participate in any distribution: today’s relevant internet artists are often not anymore a member of a collecting society, nor are they being represented by a music publisher or a record label.
musicNOW to drive European Commission application for an ERIC
Under the leadership of the Republic of Malta, three Member States of the European Union, including Malta and the Republic of Slovenia, intend to form a European Research Infrastructure Consortium according to the ERIC-regulation (EC 723/2009 with amendment EC 1261/2013) to govern the public component of musicNOW: to establish and operate a Creative Rights Data Repository as an open, public, authoritative repository of rights ownership information. It will operate as a social enterprise on a not-for-profit basis.
The ERIC will further the conclusive work already accomplished by Berklee College’s civic society action “Open Music Initiative” (OMI) with its close to 200 members in the music industry. Berklee’s and OMI’s contribution to the ERIC will focus on the US-market, as well as on offerings to publishers and labels.
Significant preparatory work also been accomplished by Mycelia, a NGO founded by the artist Imogen Heap. Mycelia has developed a “Creative Passport” for musical artists, which will serve as the basis for musicNow’s interaction with creative rightsholders.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media and Technology, lead by mp3-“inventor” Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg, will contribute its Institute’s research capability.
Leuphana University’s Centre for Digital Cultures
(CDC) will act as research partner with regard to the initiative’s cultural, socio-technical and organizational context and effects. In this capacity it will support Mycelia reaching out to creative rights-holders and artists globally.
The International Music Managers Forum
(IMMF) - the umbrella Executive Organisation utilizing a collaborative network of MMF National Organizations from over 30 countries – will open up musicNOW to its members.
The Jožef Stefan Institute
will contribute its research agenda on artificial intelligence, as part of the Republic of Slovenia’s agenda on blockchain.
Opinions on Article 13 provided by kENUP to the European Parliament
On February 13, 2018 and on February 15, 2018 respectively, kENUP Foundation has provided an opinion
and a suggestion for an alternate text
to the Committee of Legal Affairs of the European Parliament. Our work in this respect has been a part of the consultative process on ARTICLE 13 of the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright in the Digital Single Market (COM(2016)0593 – C8-0383/2016 – 2016/0280(COD)).
kENUP Foundation sends "Kranj Resolution" to US Congress
Prof. Dr. Miro Cerar LLD Prime Minister of Slovenia with artist Imogen Heap, and kENUP Foundation Chairman Holm Keller
The Congress of the United States of America is about to pass the so-called "Music Modernization Act". It may well become the most important single piece of legislation since the advent of the digital era, potentially empowering the future of a prospering global music industry. It aims to create a blanket license for mechanical royalties related to digital music as well as a public repository of truth on ownership of digital music assets, thus bringing data and its accuracy to the forefront of the conversation.
In order to fulfill on this important promise, though, the public database the Act establishes must be based on an open, interoperable protocol, providing full transparency and solid data governance. The current version of the Music Modernization Act does not provide for that.
Those assembled here in Kranj, Slovenia, for the first EU Blockchain Summit, herewith reach out to the legislators of the United States of America to enhance the Act to meet this need of artists and creators in the United States, and globally.
Kranj, Republic of Slovenia, European Union, April 11, 2018
You can download an up-to-date draft of our working paper here.
Your input would be very much appreciated. Please send us an email to participate@musicNOW. eu
Click here
to listen to German National Radio's (Deutschlandfunk Kultur) report from March 27, 2018 on the background of rightsNOW.
For your reference, please find below the documents used during the eHearing on October 2, 2017
In lieu of meeting notes, please refer to the summary given at the end of the eHearing, as recorded from the live stream.