Media companies urge Commission to turn down copyright proposal

On 10 July 2007, however, the Commission received a letter signed by companies including France Telecom, Liberty Global, SBS Broadcasting, Orange, RTL, ProsiebenSat1, Telenet, ORF, Cable Europe, Deutsche Telekom  and by the German Association of Private Broadcasters and Television Operators (VPRT). The letter, which is addressed to EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, urges the Commission not to accept settlement proposals from CISAC which, the signatories say, "raise substantial issues as regards application of competition law and internal market rules, cultural diversity, and the relationship between smaller and larger representatives of rightsholders". 

The signatory companies say that "the settlement porposals - instead of remedying the consumer harm identified by the European Commission - would undermine the current system of licensing the global music repertoire as a single package and lead to a costly, inefficient and fragmented licensing system for music rights." They also state: "The proposed remedies woud...lead to the disappearance of many smaller author's rights societies."

The letter goes on to suggest that the Commission: "The collecting societies amend their proposals to provide for an economically meaningful licensing system, including guarantees that the remedies in this competition case are not undermined by withdrawal of repertoire while they are in effect." The companies conclude: "If CISAC cannot offer such a solution, the Commission must adopt a decision finding an infringement of EC competition rules."