Advocacy, Events, FERA Speaks, News
FERA at European Audiovisual Observatory online conference on the Digital Services Act Package
12 February 2021
The Digital Service Act Package contains the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), published on 15 December 2020, with the expectative that 2021 should be the year when the EU Parliament and the Member States discuss the Commission’s proposals in the ordinary legislative procedure. The online conference of the European Audiovisual Observatory on February 11 delved into how the proposed legislative package aims at “bringing into the now” the current legal framework for digital services as well as its impacts on the audiovisual sector in Europe.
Among the expert speakers, whose background ranges from audiovisual law to representatives from the industry and the institutions regulating and supporting it, it was also our CEO Pauline Durand-Vialle.
Pauline Durand-Vialle put forth the perspective of audio-visual authors looking into what the digital services package means for European audiovisual creation in all its geographical, cultural and artistic diversity, considering the various shapes and sizes of our current production and distribution framework, stressing that “for European filmmakers, it is essential to find balance between freedom of expression, cultural diversity and the value of intellectual property in the cultural and audiovisual industry”.
Key elements to monitor include copyright enforcement and assessing if these new rules in terms of liability be compatible with our industry’s current legal arsenal against piracy, and the gatekeeper position of new online players in our markets, particularly regarding transparency on viewership data and content recommendation systems. The digital services package is very broad and horizontal, which will make its impact on our industry challenging to assess during the upcoming legislative process.