Representing 10,000 literary translators in 28 countries, the European Council of Literary Translators Associations (CEATL) has answered the European Commission’s consultation on “the role of publishers in the copyright value chain” (https://ec NULL.europa NULL.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/public-consultation-role-publishers-copyright-value-chain-and-panorama-exception) and wishes to make the following comments on the question of granting neighbouring rights to publishers in EU law:
* Contracts already grant publishers all rights necessary to exploit the works and defend them against infringement. And if the aim of neighbouring rights were to ensure that both authors and publishers are entitled to remuneration/compensation for uses of their works taking place under exceptions (reprography, private copy) in EU law, then clarifying the 2001 directive regarding the notion of rightsholder would be a very preferable solution.
* indeed, CEATL reckons that granting neighbouring rights to publishers in the sector would have a very negative impact on authors, opening a whole new field of legal uncertainty. From the author’s point of view, it would only means more complexity and a lessening of his control on his works. Going in that direction would be counterproductive at a time when both the Parliament and Commission have repeatedly expressed their desire to put the author at the heart of the system, to protect his right to remuneration and to foster a better balance in his contractual relationship with publishers.