Writers will want to closely follow discussions of Article 12, which could affect their royalties
In Europe, most of the leading publishers’ associations have issued glowing statements about the proposed Copyright Directive legislation, and a final vote is anticipated in January. Organizations such as the International Publishers Association (Geneva) and the Federation of European Publishers (Brussels) have locked arms with publishing’s sister creative industries.
The field is not entirely united in its view, though. Vienna’s Rüdiger Wischenbart, one of the most influential of Europe’s publishing consultants, has worried aloud that the legislative drafts to date don’t contain direct references to creators of written literature. “I do not quite see how authors of commercial fiction,” he says, “might get a boost from the proposed directive and its amendments, as hardly ever are their works absorbed and disseminated without royalties by some online platforms, like YouTube or Facebook. Except for cases of piracy, which are dealt with under different legal instruments.”
In fact, publishers would like more copyright fees headed to them in certain parts of Europe. In our item above, we mention collection agencies that gather fees from regular users of copyrighted content on behalf of rights holders in Europe (and Canada). In Germany, a 2016 lawsuit from an author resulted in a ruling that only authors—not publishers—could receive fees from collective management organizations (CMOs). German publishers have actually had to return nearly €100 million (US$116.8 million) to Germany’s collection agency, which is known as VG Wort.
Representatives of Germany’s publishers and booksellers association have worked to ensure that the system of collective management of copyright revenues is codified in Article 12 of the EU Copyright Directive, affirming publishers’ rights to receive a portion of the royalties collected by CMOs.
The position of the German publishers is that the authors are on their side. In an interview with Publishing Perspectives, Dr. Jessica Sänger, the international affairs director and attorney for the German booksellers’ association (Börsenverein des deutschen buchhandels), says, “Despite the fact that authors seemed to benefit from [the 2016 court ruling] at first, the main organizations representing authors, translators, and journalists in Germany soon joined CMOs and publishers in calling for a quick adoption of Article 12, since they want to preserve CMOs where authors and publishers can be united in negotiations with manufacturers and other powerful businesses.”
In short, the publishers are saying that authors understand their future benefits from copyright lie more securely with legally protected collection agencies to which publishers lend their clout.
Bottom line: As with so many things in the European Union, the issues here run deep. More negotiation and consultation will happen between now and January. Only then, when a final draft arrives for a vote, will publishers in Europe—and their authors—be able to see just how palpably the elements of the Copyright Directive may affect them in the Digital Single Market to come.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
