Indies launch Digital Action Plan to combat Europe’s ’safe harbour’ provisions

European independent music companies launched a 10-point Digital Action Plan overnight, following reports that YouTube is continuing the same antitrust abuses it was accused of last June.

TheIndependent Music Companies Association(IMPALA, the trade group of European indie labels) filed a complaintwith the European Commission against YouTube last year. IMPALA claimed YouTube was creating artificial barriers to access the digital market.This complaint was additional to the ongoing complaint by independent labels who believe YouTube's contract is unfair and imposes more generous payment terms to major labels. Australian labels like Future Classic, Mushroom Group and We are Unified were among more than 700 indies to sign a Fair Digital Deals Declaration in July.

Now, IMPALA has submitted an Action Plan to the European Parliament ahead of a meeting yesterday in Brusselsbetween the Culture and Education committee with Digital Economy and Society Commissioner Günther Oettinger.

IMPALA’s Plan calls for a new European industrial policy to drive the digital market through the cultural and creative sectors. One point is a request to stop ‘safe harbour’ provisions in Europe that protect those who run unlicensed music services in the territory.Another is to strengthen Europe’s digital copyright law and assess how citizens, artists and businesses engage online.

“The 'rules of engagement online' are important in the music world with reports surfacing last week that YouTube is continuing the same abuses which prompted IMPALA to lodge a complaint to the EC last year,” the official press release reads.

Furthermore, IMPALA asks the European Commission to “broker a charter and scoreboards” to boost diversity in European media and on radio. The body refers to figures released last week which showed European radio's top 50 plays featured only one independent artist:Stolen Dance by Milky Chance (pictured).

Helen Smith, Executive Chair of IMPALA said in a statement: “An industrial policy for culture is a pre-requisite to Europe’s digital economy. This involves reinforcing copyright and clarifying what operators like YouTube can and can’t do.

“Ensuring a successful single digital market also implies a host of other measures such as promoting diversity in a measurable way and devising a new regulatory, competition, social and fiscal framework for smaller actors.”

Michel Lambot, co-founder and co-president of [PIAS] and board member of IMPALA, added: “A healthy licensing environment is fundamental. We look to the EU to take away distortions to the digital single market. It must be clear that the ‘safe harbour’ is no place to hide in Europe if you are running a music service.

“Let’s couple that with a serious industrial policy that boosts smaller players, gets more investment, provides more exposure for all artists, and then of course quantifies the results. This is what our Action Plan is about.”

The 10 points:

1. Reinforcing the rights that drive the digital market and grow
Europe's copyright capital
2. Giving citizens the best digital infrastructure in the world
3. Improving pluralism and diversity online as well as offline
4. Revisiting the 'rules of engagement' online
5. Growing Europe's 'missing middle' by improving conditions for
smaller actors
6. Effectively tackling websites which are structurally infringing
7. Increasing investment through a new financial approach to culture
8. Introducing greater fairness in taxation
9. Mapping how creativity works and measuring the sectors
10. Placing culture and diversity at the heart of our international work