This is an opinion piece by Pascal Rogard, CEO of France’s author’s rights society for drama repertoire SACD.

After 10 years marked by strong trends towards digital regulation in Europe, in particular in favour of copyright and creation, have some headwinds started to rise in Brussels?

This has become a valid question following the withdrawal of Thierry Breton from the new European Commission that will be confirmed in the coming months. Breton’s resignation is not the most reassuring signal, neither for French influence nor for the political orientations of the European executive.

The departure of the man who symbolised a European standard in terms of supervision of digital giants and who was able to step up, alongside members of European Parliament, to defend copyright in the world of AI, is also combined with the strong return of what seems like a slogan: down with regulation!

A melody of complaints

Regulation, and in particular that of copyright, is a convenient excuse to justify the turpitudes of some and the mistakes of others. Nevertheless, the melody of complaints is making a big comeback at the start of this European legislature.

Two initiatives that have been made public recently and consecutively find their place in this vibrant chorus. First, there is this open letter signed by some thirty European and American companies (including Spotify, Publicis, Meta, Ericsson, Prada, Pirelli, among others) calling on European leaders to “clarify” its regulatory framework on AI.

In this context, the clarification is more akin to a deconstruction process rather than a gentle makeover. And secondly, the next day, we read a note from DG Competition which heavily insisted on the very high cost of licensing agreements with rights holders, in particular for start-ups, in order to train AI.

Dig freely into European data

The narrative here will certainly posit that the former was merely targeting the GDPR rules and for the latter, that it was a technical document. But these two approaches, perfectly convergent, create a climate that leaves little room for ambiguity — AI companies should ultimately be allowed to freely dig into European data and, in good French, steal it to train their services, otherwise Europe will miss the AI ​​revolution and its economic and growth potential, and ultimately hinder the development of its start-ups.

In a world not inclined to cultivate the spirit of nuance and the art of dialectics, the conclusion seems attractive.

Except that it is false, very false.

Writing off the creative sectors

Except that this narrative deliberately forgets to point out that the problems encountered by start-ups are much more due to the lack of access to venture capital in Europe or to inadequate coordination of Europe’s financial support than to the extent of its regulation.

Except that this vision is leading to writing off the creative, cultural and information sectors, the real ones who create value and wealth for Europe and who must continue to produce it in the world of AI.

Except that it is giving up on a democratic ideal that would benefit from remaining present at the heart of Europe.

Fight collectively for a European agenda

Except that it neglects that copyright agreements authorising the exploitation of audiovisual and cinematographic works, being based on a percentage of the operators’ turnover, do not have the effect of destabilising economic players, however emerging they may be…

In this new context and faced with this brutal reminder that nothing is ever definitively acquired, the worst thing would be to give in to the spirit of resignation and renunciation. Instead, we must fight, collectively, so that the European political agenda of the years to come does not lead us to a devastating impasse for European creation and cultural diversity.

This is the work that will have to be undertaken, in Paris as in Brussels, so that the regulations and directives — the one on AI, of course, but also more broadly those on copyright or on audiovisual media services — do not fall victim to a gigantic leap backwards.

Responsibility of digital players

The entire European regulatory structure, which has inscribed on its pediment the principle of responsibility of digital players with regard to creation, copyright and cultural diversity, must not waver.

Winter may be coming back, but let’s do everything we can to keep the White Walkers away from Europe!

Not by building walls, but by creating the conditions for constructive collaboration with companies that have understood that their legal safety is based on transparency and dialogue.