Mr. Victor Finn:

IMRO is a membership organisation of over 14,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. We license and collect royalties from radio, TV, online platforms, streaming services, cinema and a host of entertainment venues and we distribute this remuneration to our members monthly. The vast majority of our members are small, self-employed SMEs and sole traders, enriching Irish society and culture with their music but who earn, at the best of times, an uncertain livelihood.

At the outset, it is important to acknowledge the significant support measures established by the Government across the wider business community, including the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS. Music industry-specific measures announced by the Minister include: the live performance support scheme; the music industry stimulus package; increased funding for the Arts Council; and the increases in mental health supports. All these supports are much needed and welcomed by the entire sector.

The creative sector has taken the brunt of the effects of the pandemic. The full closure of indoor and outdoor events has severely impacted the arts, culture, live entertainment and events sectors. We know that ongoing social distancing measures will mean severe restrictions for some time to come. The livelihoods of many artists and creative workers are threatened. The October 2020 EY report for the Arts Council indicates that of the 55,000 workers in the sector, 58% are currently wholly reliant on the PUP or EWSS. The non-funded events sector accounts for 90% of the 5 million tickets sold in Ireland each year, contributing over €3.5 billion to the national economy. It is estimated that for every €1 spent on a ticket, an additional €6 is spent in the wider tourism economy. However, many companies are now in grave danger of not reopening.

The sector fully understands the measures are necessary to protect public health and fully supports public policy in this area. However, the effect on the entertainment sector will be much more prolonged than in any other area of economic activity. The projected decrease in jobs in the arts is 15.5%, much higher than the 9.7% projected for the rest of the economy. Workers in the cultural sector need to be supported if it is to avoid enormous long-term damage through a depletion of skills and talent caused by migration away from cultural work and towards more stable sources of income. Therefore, measures are needed to address income insecurity in the sector.

IMRO has identified three key policy initiatives that should be prioritised. First, there should be a roadmap for the reopening of live entertainment spaces. It is widely acknowledged that the live events industry will be among the last to open up. However, it is imperative that we use this intervening period to fully prepare for its safe reopening. We need to plan now in order to have a safe return to live events once the pandemic has passed. This means detailed planning with all the interested stakeholders in good time in order that the public can have confidence that indoor and outdoor venues are safe and suitable spaces to host live music and entertainment events again. A representative stakeholder group encompassing all available expertise across public and private participants should be established in order that cultural providers can engage with public health experts and other stakeholders to design guidance and support mechanisms for the reintroduction of safe public engagement in cultural activity, including examining the potential of vaccination passports for attending live entertainment events.

Second, we are calling for the implementation of the EU copyright directive. The move to online performances during the pandemic has further heightened the importance of copyright protection in the digital economy. In 2019, the European Parliament approved the EU directive on copyright in the Single Market. This directive seeks to close several loopholes in existing copyright legislation. Contrary to their intended purpose, the so called safe harbour provisions of existing laws create an unfair advantage for large global online platforms when negotiating with music creators. The tech platforms either do not pay at all for creative content or pay much less than the market rate in some instances.

Online content-sharing platforms obtain unreasonable value by enabling their users to share copyright content without ensuring that underlying rights holders receive a fair share of these revenues.

The EU directive's aim is to create a well-functioning marketplace for authors and performers. A key goal of the directive is reducing the "value gap" by ensuring the profits made by Internet platforms, on the one hand, and by content creators, on the other, are fairly shared, encouraging collaboration between these two groups. Artists’ earnings from digital performance would be maximised if the Government introduces the copyright directive without adjustment or dilution. This would ensure rights holders receive a fair and proportionate income linked to the economic success of their work, providing them with alternative and badly-needed income streams.