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We authors will not be able to survive if we are denied the only essential market that the future holds for us.

Niki Stein, Director

As is well-known, the development towards digital distribution is proceeding rapidly. Authors must not be left behind - there is much to be done.

Matthias Schweighöfer

(one of the most successful German actors, who won numerous awards for his films as an actor, producer, and director)

Protecting content is not just a question of cultural values, but a fundamental acknowledgment of those who are responsible for the content.

Prof. Dieter Gorny, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Initiative Music and Managing Director of the european center for creative economy

We pay close attention to the context in which our works are displayed.

Therefore, we do not allow any use on the Internet without technical protection against framing or without our consent.

We demand a clear legal framework so that the use of our works or representations of our works are only permitted if we have given our express consent.

Rosa Loy (German painter and graphic artist) and Neo Rauch (internationally renowned artist; his paintings are exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among other locations)

Because even creatives often hardly dare to insist on their property rights on the Internet. However, freedom of the Internet does not mean that every user receives everything for free.

Adj. Prof. Dr. Silke von Lewinski

"What's your occupation?"

"Writer."

"I mean, what do you do?"

"I write stories, novels, occasionally articles or essays."

"No, I mean, how do you make a living?"

Ingo Schulze

(internationally successful German writer, who won numerous prestigious literary awards)

We want our share of the revenue from this digital world, which is obviously capable of generating a great deal of profit.

Kathrin Röggla, Writer ans Vice President of the Academy of Arts

Politicians – both in Berlin and Brussels – have a great responsibility to finally ensure fair conditions in the digital markets, especially for authors and artists, because without us, culture and art cannot happen in the first place, even digitally.

Prof. Dr. Fred Breinersdorfer,

(screenwriter, producer, lawyer, and SAA patron, Brussels who won numerous prestigious awards, most notably an Oscar nomination)

Due to digitalization and its various uses of our work, we are faced with complex copyright issues. We must find answers that protect and promote the sources of the entire industry – the writers.

Nina George, Writer

Knowledge is different from information. Knowledge is a suggestion for the classification, weighting, and evaluation of the infinite amount of information that we are faced with each day. Knowledge allows individuals to understand, act, and live. That is why knowledge is so valuable, and, therefore, the authors of knowledge are so important...

Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude

(professor of macro-sociology and renowned non-fiction author)

...With his suggestion, the author of knowledge advocates for his understanding of the world. There is no knowledge without the person who represents the knowledge. This is the reason why such people must be protected, valued, and remunerated. Otherwise, all knowledge is lost in the sea of information.

Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude

(professor of macro-sociology and renowned non-fiction author)

The implicitness with which works of art are now used and disseminated by means of digital storage media and on the Internet, skirting the authors, robs one of one's breath - and, consequently, one's livelihood.

Prof. Jeanine Meerapfel

(film director, screenwriter and producer, as well as president of the Academy of Arts in Berlin)

Artistic freedom can only develop on a secure economic basis. The European internal market has the power to shape the future of Europe, which is why decisions at the European level are particularly important. It is vital that we monitor and enforce fair trade in data and the use of services protected by copyright.

Prof Dr. Dr. Udo di Fabio

Do not use 'content' to refer to our songs!

Do not use 'value' if you mean profit!

Do not say 'freedom' if you want control and arbitrariness!

Frank Dostal

(German songwriter and music producer)

It is not acceptable for composers and artists to finance start-ups by foregoing their remuneration. The promotion of start-ups is the responsibility of the state and not of the creatives.

Micki Meuser, Composer

The fact that there are more and more legal platforms that are also accepted by users is good to hear - but when will the artists finally receive their fair share?

Antoine Monot, Jr.

(German-Swiss actor and film producer)

Fair licensing benefits the author more than blocked accounts.

Micki Meuser, Composer

Intellectual property is the oil of the 21st century.

Jochen Greve

(screenwriter, especially for the successful German television crime series 'Tatort'; SAA patron, Brussels)

I would like my works to be shown on the Internet - without the need for registration or technical protection of the website.

I do not want everyone to be able to integrate my works on the Internet into their own website without having to ask me first. The context in which my works are shown is important to me. I do not want my works to be co-opted for advertising, political or religious purposes.

Thomas Ruff

(internationally renowned photo artist; numerous prizes and awards)

The Internet must be a platform for everyone - but not at the expense of professional creatives.

Prof. Dr. Gerhard Pfennig, Initiative Urheberrecht Spokesperson

All artists want their works to be disseminated and seen. Digital platforms offer excellent opportunities for this. Whoever uses my work owes me compensation. That I receive this compensation must be guaranteed also in the case of digital platforms. Otherwise, the dissemination is tantamount to expropriation, which would blatantly violate the interests of creatives.

Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel

(translator from French, Italian and Norwegian, among others of works by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Denis Diderot, Michel Houellebecq, Yasmina Reza, Jon Fosse and Henrik Ibsen)

It is always possible to strengthen the rights of creatives, but what seems much more important to me is consolidating the leverage creatives have, i.e. their associations, unions and collecting societies. After all, the individual will not get very far.

Heinrich Schafmeister, Actor

The speed with which the exploitation of our works is shifting to the Internet is breathtaking. It is wonderful that more and more people get access to them in this way, but if fair rules for the remuneration of this use aren't established soon, the authors will fall by the wayside. It is preposterous that an increasing number of people profit from our services but that we are facing ever-worsening economic prospects.

Hans-Werner Meyer

(German actor in film and on television; Bavarian Film Award for Best Leading Actor)

Operators of online platforms like to speak of 'sharing' when it comes to the creative works of others. Fair cooperation can only be achieved, however, if platform operators themselves are willing to bear responsibility and share their profits - in accordance with the extent of the respective uses.

Prof. Dr. Enjott Schneider

(German composer, musicologist, and professor of composition for film and television; who won several awards)

Google, YouTube, Amazon and Co. should pay their taxes and fairly and justly share their advertising revenue with all creatives!

Prof. Klaus Staeck

(graphic designer, cartoonist and lawyer, long-time former president of the Academy of Arts in Berlin)

platforms demand creativity,
platforms work with creatives,
platforms earn money with creativity;
do platforms pay creatives?

Frank-Michael Zeidler

(visual artist; various art awards, prizes and individual exhibitions)

I take photographs to show my view of things, to tell stories with my pictures. Surely, I am delighted if my pictures reach as many people on the net as possible. What I am not delighted about is that the ECJ has virtually expropriated me with its decision on framing. Just as I decide what to photograph, I also want to decide where my work is to be seen and who shows it.

Roland Geisheimer

(German photographer and journalist)

On the Internet, musical, artistic and cultural works are accessible to anyone, which also gives us artists a lot of opportunities for our works to be widely disseminated and seen. Nevertheless, the Internet is not a self-service outlet. Platforms, the contents of which consist mainly of our works, earn money with them. It is thus self-evident that we creatives are indispensable and must be appropriately remunerated.

Bettina Zimmermann

(German actress in film and on television, model and voice-over artist)

Finally, we are engaging in a somewhat more extensive discourse on fundamental digital rights. Perhaps in light of hate speech, big data misuse, NSA surveillance, fake news and the global advance of populism, we have finally got a chance to think about our values and the limits of what we are willing to allow...

Matthias Hornschuh

(German composer for film, radio plays, theatre and acoustic art; Deutscher Hörbuchpreis and a nomination for the European Film Award)

...We must now talk about enforcing our generally binding rules, also with regard to the media and creative industries. For two decades, we have been trying to eat adult food using children's cutlery. You need a real knife to cut a good steak. To forge such a knife and sharpen its blade is our current task.

Matthias Hornschuh

(German composer for film, radio plays, theatre and acoustic art; Deutscher Hörbuchpreis and a nomination for the European Film Award)

The alleged social sharing culture, which "makes knowledge freely accessible," is rarely the work of idealists; it is dominated by multi-billion dollar business models that use the works of professional artists without permission or remuneration. Several thousand platforms and portals provide illegal access to two billion works. Every day, 350 million people access these sources. Neither the uploaders nor the host providers are held responsible. It is time that these responsibility gaps are closed.

Nina George

(best-selling German author and journalist; translated into various languages)