French magazine publishers' group SEPM reaches historic agreement with Sacem for neighbouring rights
The Syndicat des éditeurs de la presse magazine (SEPM) has entered into a historic agreement with the Society of authors, composers and publishers of music (Sacem) that aims to draw on Sacem's expertise to create the first collective management body for press neighbouring rights in France.
The neighbouring right for publishers and news agencies, enacted in the EU directive on copyright and related rights in the digital single market, is a major step towards making platforms that commercially exploit online press articles accountable. France was the first European Union country to have transposed, as of July 2019, the provisions creating this neighbouring right.
Sacem and the SEPM had fought tirelessly for the adoption of this directive in the face of an intense European campaign by the giant Internet platforms. The joint effort that is now underway is a natural extension of this commitment and of these shared values.
The collective management organisation that is currently being set up is intended to include all beneficiaries of the press related right who wish to opt for collective management of this right. Sacem's role will be to provide the future CMO with expertise in Internet rights management
The SEPM brings together more than 80 publishing companies. Covering the vast majority of general-interest magazines, it represents the richness and diversity of the French magazine press, from political and general news to publications for more targeted audiences, including the cultural press, the youth press, the women's press, etc. By turning to Sacem, the leading authors' society in France and throughout the world, the SEPM seeks to benefit from Sacem's experience and expertise in the collective management of rights in order to make the most of its members' publications, which are now massively used by search engines and social networks. The diversity, quality and richness of our press cannot be preserved without a guarantee of fair remuneration for the people who publish it.
Sacem and the SEPM had fought tirelessly for the adoption of this directive in the face of an intense European campaign by the giant Internet platforms. The joint effort that is now underway is a natural extension of this commitment and of these shared values.
The collective management organisation that is currently being set up is intended to include all beneficiaries of the press related right who wish to opt for collective management of this right. Sacem's role will be to provide the future CMO with expertise in Internet rights management
The SEPM brings together more than 80 publishing companies. Covering the vast majority of general-interest magazines, it represents the richness and diversity of the French magazine press, from political and general news to publications for more targeted audiences, including the cultural press, the youth press, the women's press, etc. By turning to Sacem, the leading authors' society in France and throughout the world, the SEPM seeks to benefit from Sacem's experience and expertise in the collective management of rights in order to make the most of its members' publications, which are now massively used by search engines and social networks. The diversity, quality and richness of our press cannot be preserved without a guarantee of fair remuneration for the people who publish it.
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Alain Augé, SEPM President:
"The SEPM is proud and pleased with this agreement, which is intended to provide an effective and credible tool to enable the French press and all rights holders to obtain significant, long-term remuneration, based on objective and evolving criteria, for neighbouring rights from all digital players who use the press and the richness, diversity and attractiveness of its content to develop their own business models."
Jean-Noël Tronc, CEO of Sacem:
"Sacem is proud of the trust placed in it by the Syndicat des éditeurs de la presse magazine to help it create the world's first collective management organisation for press publishers' neighbouring rights. In the digital age, collective rights management is more than ever a model that ensures efficiency, equality and transparency, while promoting fair remuneration.
Sacem brings press publishers its more than 20 years' experience establishing licenses with all categories of Internet players, its recognised know-how and its global digital expertise, which is illustrated in particular by the mandates entrusted to it by numerous partners and by the power of its URights platform, which enabled it to process more than 28 trillion data points in 2020."
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