Since a major movement of French publishers and press agencies has organised itself around a collective management organisation now known as ‘Droits Voisins de la Presse (DVP)’ (Press Neighbouring Rights), a debate of unprecedented scale has developed thanks to the determination of press neighbouring rights holders in the country. Should we be so alarmed by the ‘predatory’ role of the major platforms? Is it true that they are dangerously draining the press economy, or is this simply a fashionable fear that is crying wolf?
Our approach to uniting around these issues is refreshingly vigorous. Decision-makers are showing their interest with kindness but timidity. Legislators and governments are watching this powerful step with admiration. But since it is simply a matter of enforcing the law, by bringing together as many publishers and press agencies as possible, let us prove, title by title, that we will all be around the table. And let us not be afraid to become the active secular arm of a text voted on in Brussels in April 2019, transposed three months later in France, thus setting an example for other members of the European Union, protected as we must be by two courageous decisions of the French Competition Authority. The law is on our side, and massive unity must be the vehicle for it.
Our collective management organisation is not an end in itself: the goal is the fair sharing of wealth between the platforms and us, followed by fairness and transparency in management and distribution. But before this distribution is carried out by our service provider, the CFC, chosen for its high level of competence and expertise in this field, we need a surge of support: this is the purpose of the dossier carefully prepared by Sacem, our first service provider-partner, whose expertise in negotiation and management is invaluable. So let us make it our duty to join, to give the necessary impetus to our rightful claim, of which we will now be the active representatives.
And if we need another reason to come together as much as possible, let us ask ourselves what democracy would be without the press, if it were allowed to be ruined and die by the inevitable disappearance of its resources. As you well know, the only battles we lose are those we do not fight.
Jean-Marie Cavada
President of DVP