On the 31st of January, a round table was held in the European Parliament on ‘Best practices fighting online piracy. The case of Spain’. The event was hosted by MEP Ibán García Del Blanco, with the participation of MEP Alexis Georgoulis.
The round table brought together representatives from different Spanish cultural industries who discussed how Spain over the last ten years has become a model in the fight against online piracy, efficiently promoting legal access to content online and respecting intellectual property, thus ensuring fair remuneration for authors.
EVA’s Board member and VEGAP Director General, Javier Gutiérrez Vicén, contributed to the discussion by bringing the point of view of the visual artists, who are self-employed and, due to piracy, suffer greater damages.
He informed the audience that visual Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) are intensifying their efforts to prevent the illicit use of online content through automated image recognition tools that identify images on digital platforms.
Lastly, Mr Gutiérrez Vicén stated that “Culture is the treasure of Spain. Cultural organisations and relevant actors, from both public and private sectors, must come together and cooperate to strengthen authors’ rights, fight online illegal content and work on further social protections such as the status of the artist. Platforms should also take responsibility for the key role they play in this collective effort.”
