This week the report 'What's going on' (Wat er speelt) gives insight into the position of Dutch artists and performers in the digital environment. Unlike the headline 'Artists Do not Think Piracy Hurts Them Financially, Study Shows" on TorrentFreak, it appears that the report, at first reading, comes to precisely the opposite view. Here are two key paragraphs from the report’s conclusions (p. 88):

"For digital exploitation of their work, most authors preferably focus on traditional parties such as publishers and collective rights management organizations. Many see digital distribution and exploitation as a threat rather than an opportunity. File sharing is primarily seen as a danger and a large majority believe that this issue needs tougher action against consumers and websites. Creators who offer their work on file sharing sites are scarce. Also remixes of their own work are not valued by most and sometimes seen as a threat to revenue. A significant part of creators welcomes DRM."

"A majority of the creators and performers considers their negotiating position with commissioners and publishers as weak. They are generally positive about the various aspects of the draft of the Authors’ Contract Rights Bill. A majority agreed with the statement that their economic situation would be better if copyrights are not transferable during their lifetime. Also, minimum fees and the right to unilaterally terminate licenses after five years are largely well received. On the other hand, a majority speak out against legislative interference with the free transfer of rights and more than 40 percent think that publishers will take less risk in investing in new works when creators can terminate exclusive licenses after five years."

At the same time the report signals that there are many differences in outcomes between the various categories of artists as well as between different background characteristics such as age and income. For instance, the researchers find that younger creators see fewer threats and more opportunities in digital distribution, marketing and file sharing than their older colleagues. They also believe that less effort should be taken against file sharing, they focus more on digitally oriented publishers and have fewer problems with remixes and more with DRM. Nevertheless, these differences are not purely due to a generational conflict, the report claims. Younger artists have less at stake than their older colleagues.

More on the draft of the Dutch Authors’ Contract Rights Bill, here and here. 

Download the report 'Wat er speelt' (PDF)