European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA)

ECSA's November news is out!

🔵 Statement on major labels’ licensing deals with #AI companies
🔵 Panel at Linecheck on incidents of violation or violence
🔵 Policy recommendations: EU-UK cultural and media relations
🔵 Kristiansand roundtable, AMCC-SGAE conference, & much more!
➡️ Read: bit.ly/3MjaJ9z

🚨 ECSA expresses concern over the lack of transparency of the recent licensing deals announced by the three major labels with various AI companies, and calls on the major labels to properly value the works of composers and songwriters.

➡️ Full statement: bit.ly/3KhQZTd

🇪🇺 🇬🇧 ECSA is glad to co-sign a set of policy recommendations to strengthen cultural and media relations between the EU and UK, together with more than 200 stakeholders from the EU’s and the UK’s CCS, and developed by the Forum on EU–UK Cultural & Media Relations. Full letter: bit.ly/3LYevox

⏰ Deadline approaching: one week left to apply to become a mentor in the AEC–ECSA–EJN–JMI Mentorship Programme!

👉 More info and applications: bit.ly/46ZwKkl

ECSA's October news is out! This month:

🔵 ECSA Session in Ljubljana hosted by DSS
🔵 #CreatorsTalks panel at WSA Ghent
🔵 Voting recommendations on proposed amendments to JURI draft report on #copyright and #AI
🔵 Panel at Linecheck, Apollon & FIM conference, and much more!

➡️ Read: bit.ly/47ZNs3V

YouTube video by Film Fest Gent // World Soundtrack Awards WSA Creator's Talk 2025: Negotiating in the Dark - The Composer's contract

🎬 What can film composers do to better protect their rights? What action can we take against unfair contractual practices?

Watch the recording of our #CreatorsTalks panel "Negotiating in The Dark: The Composer’s Contract", earlier this month at WSA Ghent @wsawards.bsky.social, below ⤵️

Takeaways From the Discussion on Composers’ Contracts at the World Soundtrack Awards Production companies are not publishers, beware of buyouts and kill fees: leading industry figures discuss the dos and don'ts of composers contracts

🎥 Last week, we co-organised our #CreatorsTalks panel "Negotiating in The Dark: The Composer’s Contract" at WSA Ghent. @wsawards.bsky.social

📰 Want to know what has been discussed? Below, @variety.com listed five takeaways from the conversation ⤵️
bit.ly/3WL08pN

🎶 Are you an experienced female or non-binary music creator wanting to contribute to greater equality and visibility across the European music sector? Apply as a mentor in the AEC–ECSA–EJN–JMI Mentorship Programme!

👉 More info and applications: bit.ly/46ZwKkl
🗓️ Deadline: 10 November 2025

🚨 Today, ECSA and 12 other organisations representing hundreds of thousands of European creators and artists, sent a letter to MEP's in the JURI Committee, presenting our voting recommendations on amendments to the draft report “Copyright & #genAI – opportunities and challenges".

ℹ️: bit.ly/48TpPMf

Out now: ECSA's September news!

🔵 #AgoraEU: EU music sector calls for comprehensive policy strategy and ambitious budget
🔵 ECSA President interviewed by Creatives Unite
🔵 #CreatorsTalks panel at WSA Ghent
🔵 New #TuneInDialogues podcast episode, mentoring sessions, and much more!

➡️ bit.ly/3Krl8z8

Today, 21 organisations from across Europe’s music sector, including ECSA, call for a comprehensive policy strategy and an ambitious budget for Europe’s music sector within #AgoraEU, reflecting the economic, social, and cultural importance of music in Europe.

➡️ Full statement: bit.ly/4mAhvEd

Helienne Lindvall: Secure authors' rights in the AI Act, funding and a European strategy for music <p>Helienne Lindvall, President of the European Composer & Songwriter Alliance (ECSA) talks to CU about rising authors' challenges in the AI era and their focus on securing consent, remuneration and t...

"Key tools for implementing the AI Act such as the GPAI Code of Practice, the GPAI guidelines and the template for the summary of content used for training by AI providers are toothless and disappointing", @helienne.bsky.social states.

📰 Full interview: bit.ly/4mdM6bt

🗣️ ECSA President Helienne Lindvall spoke to #CreativesUnite about our concerns on the AI Act implementation, the place of culture in the recently proposed Multiannual Financial Framework, and the importance of establishing an EU strategy for the music sector within the new #AgoraEU programme.

ECSA's July news is out!

🔵 Joint statement on EU AI Act implementing package
🔵 European Commission’s investigation into UMG’s acquisition of Downtown
🔵 ECSA welcomes MEP Axel Voss’ draft report on copyright and #genAI
🔵 EU budget proposal, SoundTrack_Cologne, and much more!

➡️ Read: bit.ly/4ojTaF2

Picture with the Logos of 40 organisations in the arts and culture sector and Text: „We are being sold out in favour of GenAI model providers“: Joint Statement on the GPAI Code of Practice and the template by 40 Federations of the European Cultural and Creative Sectors

Picture with Text: We call on the European Parliament and Member States, as co-legislators, to challenge the unsatisfactory process of this exercise.

Picture with Text: Code, Guidelines and Template are for the sole benefit of the GenAI model providers that continuously infringe copyright and related rights to build their models.

"A betrayal of the EU AI Act’s objectives”
„We are being sold out in favour of GenAI model providers“:

Joint Statement on the GPAI Code of Practice and the template by 40 Federations of the European Cultural and Creative Sectors

europeanwriterscouncil.eu/ccs-joint-st...

#AIAct #CodeOfPractice

🚨 We call on the European Commission to revisit the implementation package and enforce Article 53 in a meaningful way, ensuring that the EU AI Act lives up to its promise to safeguard European intellectual property rights in the age of generative AI.

❌ We see the recently published GPAI Code of Practice, the GPAI Guidelines, and the Template for disclosure of a sufficiently detailed summary as a missed opportunity to provide real protection of IP rights in the context of #genAI. This outcome does not deliver on the promise of the EU AI Act.

❗ Together with a broad coalition of rightsholders active across the EU’s cultural and creative sectors, we express our strong concerns about the EU AI Act implementing package, which does not provide a meaningful implementation of the GPAI obligations under the AI Act.

➡️ Read: bit.ly/3H8lCsC

Alan Kelly TD, chair of Joint Oireachtas Committee for Culture launches IMRO Muisc Report

Very informative launch of @imro Ireland: Music Report 2025 this morning. Recognising the cultural, social and economic value of music and threats of unregulated AI and getting a fair share from streaming for creators
@ecsa.bsky.social @malcolmbyrne.bsky.social

➡️ Read our statement: bit.ly/4khJJCA

Approving this deal would further exacerbate market concentration which is detrimental to composers and songwriters – and a healthy music sector.

As the music market is already dominated by a handful of global players, the acquisition of Downtown Music by UMG would hinder fair competition across the music value chain and reduce the freedom of choice for composers and songwriters.

🚨 We urge the European Commission to block Universal Music Group (UMG)’s acquisition of Downtown Music.

Opportunity for European film composers: Film Music Career Mentoring courses with Oticons!

Get tailored guidance through both the creative and business aspects composing for film by acclaimed film composers agent George Christopoulos and renowned composer Miriam Cutler.

🔗 Apply: bit.ly/44cIIHi

ECSA's June news is out!

🔵 #AI: joint letter to European Parliament’s JURI Committee
🔵 ECSA President @helienne.bsky.social joins meetings in New York and Biarritz
🔵 Joint call: increase the budget of #CreativeEurope
🔵 EFM, SoundTrack _Cologne, and much more!

➡️ Read: bit.ly/4lqZtVz

As the EU prepares its next 7-year budget, it is crucial to protect and strengthen #CreativeEurope. Together with 70+ European associations, we call on EU leaders to:

🔹Keep Creative Europe stand-alone
🔹Double its budget
🔹Invest strategically in culture’s future

📢 Full letter: bit.ly/45OMzvp

#authorsrights #humanrights @europeanwriterscouncil.eu and other creatives' organisations urge MEPs to respect and defend human creativity and creatives' rights against the exploitation of #ai
@ceatl.bsky.social @ecsa.bsky.social @efjeurope.bsky.social @egair.eu @ifjglobal.bsky.social

We thank the European Parliament for drafting this report, which offers a crucial opportunity to engage in a long-overdue, democratic debate on generative AI and its impact on our creative communities.

In the letter, we call on the JURI Committee to ensure that the development of #generativeAI complies with the principles of informed #authorisation, #remuneration and #transparency for authors, performers and other rightsholders.

🚨 Today, a wide coalition representing hundreds of thousands of creators and artists sent a letter to members of the @europarl.europa.eu JURI Committee on MEP Axel Voss' report on “Copyright and generative artificial intelligence – opportunities and challenges".

➡️ Read our letter: bit.ly/3HHeT99