Case won: filmmakers and cable operators agree on fees

You can watch television again without guilt. After a two-and-a-half-year conflict, television broadcasters, producers and cable companies are coming to terms. This is going to make for a lot of happy TV, because after two years of waiting, the makers, actors and writers of television programmes will finally get the money they were entitled to all this time. And more.

Did the lobby so just made sense.

Today's press release:

The rights organisations for filmmakers and actors (united in PAM), together with producers, broadcasters and distributors (united in RODAP), have arrived at a new remuneration system for film and television exploitations. The agreements made are laid down in a covenant and apply to all producers, broadcasters and almost all distributors and operators on the Dutch market.

After years of discussions and (legal) wrangling, the parties in the audiovisual sector have reached consensus on a remuneration scheme. This scheme provides for remuneration for filmmakers and actors for linear television broadcasts plus free 'broadcast missed' and video-on-demand services. The rights organisations united in PAM (LIRA, VEVAM and NORMA) will collect and distribute these fees. The new remuneration system is based on the Copyright Contracts Bill that will soon be debated in the Lower House.

For linear television broadcasts and free 'uitzending gemist', all Dutch distributors united in RODAP will pay a fixed amount per subscriber to the rights organisations in PAM for the next five years. In early December, RODAP reported that they would establish a €15 million fund to guarantee the payment of this fee, but due to agreement with the PAM parties, establishment of this fund will no longer be necessary.

For video on demand services such as TV programmes and films on demand via various platforms and screens (television, tablets, smartphones, home cinemas, etc.), a lump-sum fee (a fixed amount) has been agreed for 2015. An expert group will further investigate and visualise this market of on-demand services over the next six months. Based on this, the expert group will make proposals for remuneration by operators to the rights organisations in PAM for the period starting 2016.

The remuneration scheme will be reviewed periodically. Further consultations will be held on other exploitations, the linear retransmission of foreign channels and periods in the past.

"We are convinced that with the agreements made, a solid foundation has been laid for a new period of good cooperation between operators, broadcasters, producers and filmmakers," says Felix Rottenberg, since the end of December the new chairman of PAM, the association for filmmakers. "This is an extremely positive development and a new beginning within the Dutch creative film and television industry," said Medy van der Laan, chairman of RODAP, the organisation of producers, broadcasters and distributors.