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The President of France defends the protection of Author’s Rights on the Internet

The 13th edition of the Internet Governance Forum, held in Paris between 12th and 14th November 2018, organized by UNESCO, counted at its opening ceremony with the participation of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, who defended the value and importance of creativity, as well as the need for their protection on the internet.

In his speech, Macron affirmed that the preservation and potentialization of creations, inventions and the economic development of networks are a priority for the future of the internet. He stated that the Internet allows for a universal audience, where “We need to work in order to preserve cultural diversity in the digital space”.


During his appearance, he emphasized that Europe is in the process of approving a new Directive, whose text was approved by the European Parliament last September 14th, and analyzed by the Instituto Autor; in Macron´s words, “It will allow for a fair distribution of the value of culture”. He also marked that one of the objectives of the Digital Single Market is to make digital borders disappear in the European Union, and for that purpose, efforts are being concentrated toward the creation of a common legislation which will “Allow for the creation, the content and recognition of Author’s Rights in digital space”, as “There is a base for the transformation of collective ideology”.


Macron stated that “We need to observe this digital space, and there needs to be an arbitration on the distribution of the value between those who create and those who disseminate”, and stressed that “If we don´t fight for Author’s Rights, there will be no difference between authors and platforms, and thus cultural diversity will not be protected”. As well, he assured that “if no value is given to what authors create and propagate, they will not be willing to create any further and that is about a basic rule that nowadays is not protected correctly”.


He claimed that this battle and defence of Author’s Rights by the authors, does not threaten the internet, but quite the opposite – it represents the possibility for new persons and talent to arise that “Will allow for the development, preservation, and assure the permanent diffusion of creativity in this hegemonic Internet”.


Given the above, he proposed the creation of a Platform Observatory at a European level, as well as establishing a trust regulation as an addendum to the right to competition.


Macron closes his defence of Author’s Rights affirming that this “battle” for cultural diversity and creativity empowerment, is a battle as well for education and respect towards Author’s Rights.


As well, during his speech, he pointed out the need to grant security on Internet to citizens, to protect data and veracity of information.


The objective of this forum is to promote open and inclusive debates about the need to respect human rights on digital environments, where subjects have been approached such as the digital divide, gender equality, the impact of AI and state-of-the-art technologies, but as well matters related to cyber-security and the fight against expressions of hate and violent extremism.



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