IP WEEKLY UPDATES (HOT TOPICS)

11/04/2023

ARTISTS AND PLATFORMS: A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP. ITALIAN ACTORS vs. NETFLIX

 

The collecting society Artisti 7607, which has been engaged for years in the negotiation, collection and distribution of rights related to copyright and has been founded, among others, by Elio Germano, Neri Marcorè and Claudio Santamaria, has decided to take legal action against the American giant Netflix. At the root of the dispute, there would be an uncooperative attitude on the part of the Californian company, which allegedly uses protected audiovisual works without providing collecting societies with data on exploitation, views or revenues, thereby also failing to fulfil its obligation to pay artists and performers with an “adequate and proportionate” remuneration as required by the Copyright Directive. The consequence – in the view of the Roman collecting society – is that artists would apparently be paid particularly small and disproportionate amounts when compared to the success of the works in which they take part.
The initiative is hence part of the more general conflict that is affecting the world of art and entertainment in Italy and which involves authors and artists – on the one hand – and platforms – on the other – in the search for a fair balance between market logics and copyright protection.