Don’t Kill The Culture – stand up for private copying compensation!

The private copying compensation (also the ‘copying levy’) is a form reimbursement for the general public’s statutory right to copy music, film and TV for their own private use from an original lawful version. It’s based on EU law.

In Finland, the compensation is covered from the state budget and is distrubuted to creative workers, such as musicians, composers, lyricists, actors and directors, both directly and collectively through the support of cultural promotion centres such as The Finnish Music Foundation.

The current proposed guillotine cut from 11 million to 5.5 million is both damaging and unjustified, according to the industry.

Unfair and unjustified cut

Private copying compensation is not discretionary cultural aid. It is a compensation to authors, based on the EU Directive and Finnish law, for allowing every citizen to copy and store works for their own use.

According to the law, the compensation must be reasonable. The reasonableness is assessed on the basis of an annual copy survey carried out by the Authority.

The level of compensation was last set in 2023, and the amount of copying and the harm it causes has not changed significantly since then. Studies commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Culture show that the level of copying has remained more or less the same even since 2017.

In the digital age, copying has not disappeared but, on the contrary, its economic importance has increased, as the trade in physical products has shifted to the trade in storage and streaming rights.

That is why, according to the organisations, the cut in the government framework decision is neither fair nor justified.

“To halve this statutory compensation, the copying and the harm it causes would have to be halved. Of course, this is not likely to happen and – most importantly – the government cannot have a crystal ball to see in advance that this will happen in 2025,” says Lauri Kaira , Director of Advocacy at Luovat and Gramex, in his blog (in Finnish).

“Since the amount of the compensation is based on research, such a decision is as corny as deciding in advance, politically, what the average June temperature will be in 2025. The government should abandon the cut in the autumn budget debate,” says Kaira.

Dramatic consequences for the music industry

The cut, if implemented, would damage the cultural sector in two ways. First, it would cut by 50% the remunerations paid to music performers and producers through collective management organisations such as Gramex. On top of this, it would cut by 50% the budget of cultural promotion centres such as the Finnish Music Foundation.

“If the private copying compensation were cut in half, virtually all the subsidies distributed by the Finnish Music Foundation to the domestic professional music scene would fall dramatically. It is clear that this would have serious consequences for the diversity and activities of Finnish music all over Finland,” says Tommi Saarikivi, CEO of the Finnish Music Foundation and a musician himself.

The multiplier effects of the cut would be felt in every province in Finland, as music and film events, which are important for vitality, would not be organised. In addition, cultural exports would be affected.

“The grants from the Finnish Music Foundation have played an important role in enabling new openings in my artistic career. It is important to keep this opportunity for future musicians,” says Erja Lyytinen, an internationally successful blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and entrepreneur who is a campaigner .

How to get involved in the campaign?

Gramex and the other campaigning organisations invite everyone to join the campaign. There are many ways to get involved.

“All your own activity is welcome: you can do your own communication on social media and be in touch with decision-makers. Of course, the easiest way is to pass on content produced by us at Gramex or Luovat on social media. So be the first to follow both our and Luovat’s newsletters,” says Sari Aalto-Setälä, Gramex’s Communications Director.

The idea behind the campaign is to highlight events, films and music that would not exist without private copying credits.

“You are welcome to shoot a video or share a picture of your own music and use the cover to explain why the compensation paid and the Finnish Music Foundation is meaningful to you. Remember to use the tag #ÄläAnnaKulttuurinKadota,” says Aalto-Setälä.

Organisations are also welcome to sign up to the campaign. Also international support is warmly welcomed.

Read more about the campaign on the Luovat ry website and follow @gramexfin and @luovatry (in Finnish).