Speaker

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)

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)

 "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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Intellectual property is the oil of the 21st century.

Jochen Greve

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

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

Prof. Dr. Gerhard Pfennig, Initiative Urheberrecht Spokesperson

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

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)

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)

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) 

...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)