the tech giant Meta will remove the Italian songs from the catalog available on its social networks, such as Facebook or Instagram, after failing to renew today a agreement with the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers (SIAE).
The body, which protects the copyrights of more than 100,000 Italian artists and producers, announced in a statement the failure to renew the agreement by which, to date, the Meta networks offered Italian songs in their catalogs.
And he has called the decision “unilateral and incomprehensible.”
He agreement in between Meta and the SIAE allowed, for example, to accompany a video published in a “Reel” or a “Story” on Instagram with an Italian song.
The SIAE explained that the giant of the platforms asked “to accept a unilateral proposal regardless of any transparent and shared assessment of the effective value of the repertoire.”
“That position, together with the refusal on the part of Meta to share information relevant to a agreement equitable, obviously goes against the principles of the ‘Copyright Directive’ for which authors and publishers from all over Europe fought”, reads the note.
The SIAE “will not accept impositions by a subject that exploits its position of strength to obtain benefits at the expense of the Italian creative industry.”
However, he indicated his “full availability” to renew the agreement but with “transparent conditions” that allow “the correct use of Italian artistic content.”
Proof of this good faith, the Italian authors and publishers allege, is that the agreement previous expired on January 1, 2023 and, even so, Meta he continued to have the Italian themes available.
From the company of Mark Zuckerberg it was announced that from today “the withdrawal of the songs from the SIAE repertoire of the music bookstore will begin” from these popular social networks but it advanced that they will continue negotiating the renewal of the agreement.
“We believe that allowing people to share and connect on our platforms using the music they love is a value for the entire music industry. We have licenses with more than 150 countries and we will strive to reach an agreement with SIAE that satisfies every Tuesday. “said a spokesman in “La Repubblica”.
One of the first reactions to this break was from the veteran record producer and honorary president of SIAE, Giulio Repetti “Mogol”, who denounced that “these digital platforms earn billions while they refuse to pay the authors”.
For his part, the president of the Federation of Music Publishers (FEM), Paolo Franchini, described the decision as an “unacceptable act of discrimination against Italian authors and artists” and called for reopening negotiations.
“The duty of a global publisher like Meta, as well as the duty of a rights collective management society like SIAE, is to always act to facilitate access to creative content and ensure respect for the entire creative community,” he said. .
And he urged: “We ask that Meta reopen immediately and in good faith a negotiating table with the SIAE and that protects the rights of all artists and all authors”.
