Finland Slashes Its Private Copying Compensation Plan — And Rights Organizations React

Photo Credit: Joakim Honkasalo

International associations of authors’ collective management organizations respond to the recent cut in the private copying compensation plan in Finland.Associations worldwide representing authors’ collective management organizations in the music and visual arts sectors — including CISAC, EVA, IFRRO, GESAC, and the SAA — have responded to Finland’s recent cut to its private copying compensation plan, urging the country to reverse the decision.

The organizations have joined forces to express “great concern on behalf of both the Finnish authors and all European/international authors community whose rights are represented in Finland through our Finnish members.”

According to the response posted to CISAC’s website, the Finnish government “cannot justify” its decision to halve the level of private copying compensation paid from the state budget from 11 million euros ($12 million) to 5.5 million euros ($6 million). “This decision, taken without a proper economic assessment of its impact on rightsholders, would have harmful and destructive consequences for authors and the whole creative ecosystem in Finland.”

“The compensation for private copying is mandatory under the Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonization of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society […] and the Finnish Copyright Act as a condition to the freedom of citizen to copy works for their private use through a private copying exception,” the letter continues. “Finland thus has the responsibility to organize and secure this fair compensation to authors.”

The authors’ collective management organizations stress that private copying compensation is a significant source of income for authors in the European Union and beyond. “In Finland, a yearly amount of 5.5 million euros to be split between authors, performers, producers, and publishers in the audiovisual, music, text, and visual arts sectors cannot be considered in any way as an adequate, sufficient, or fair compensation for private copying.”

They assert the cut would harm authors and the Finnish cultural sector in two significant ways — the most obvious being that the amount of compensation authors receive in the creative fields would suddenly be reduced by 50%. But cultural promotion centers, partially sustained by private copy compensation, would need to “considerably reduce” their support to events and the creation of new works in the sector.The cultural sector, which is still recovering from the pandemic in 2020, would be affected catastrophically in Finland, where culture has a significant impact on the economy. “Today, about 140 films and works of media art are financed annually with AVEK’s support [The Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture] and 200 municipalities events are financed with grants from MES [The Foundation for Music Promotion],” the organizations write. “We therefore find it disconcerting that the Finnish government would want to make it even more difficult to create new works and generate growth in the creative industries.”

The letter asks that the Finnish government reconsider its decision, ensuring that the level of private copying revenue is maintained at least at 11 million euros. Further, they ask the government to update the private copying system to accurately reflect the “actual number of copies being made and their extensive use,” in order to ensure a sustainable and fair level of compensation, especially in the digital landscape.

Signatories include CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers), EVA (European Visual Artists), GESAC (European Authors’ Society), IFRRO (International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations), and the SAA (The Society of Audiovisual Authors).