Retaining intellectual property is a real challenge, essential for independent producers, but also for the core of our European cultural sovereignty. Intellectual property is the tangible asset and economic value of our European culture!
Yet, due to an inadequate legal framework, Audiovisual works made in Europe qualify as European, regardless of the location of their intellectual property. This approach is unlike any other in the world. As a consequence, many of the flagship European works appearing on VOD platforms, have, in effect, their intellectual property established in the USA, or other regions of the world.
While Europe has a strong policy objective to promote European cultural diversity, the absence of IP localization requirements in the definition of European works creates a vacuum for the evasion of our cultural assets, and provides foreign companies with greater control over European productions through commissioning, at the expense of our independent production sector. This panel aims at reviewing the strategic role of intellectual property in Europe and for independent producers, and its long term consequences on
cultural sovereignty.
A discussion moderated by Mathilde Fiquet, Secretary General, CEPI