The EU Parliament Rejects the Copyright Directive Proposal; Interesting Battle Between Tech Companies and Creators on the Horizon; Sir Paul Weighs In

EU Parliament Rejects the Copyright Directive Amendments

As a follow up to my previous article regarding a proposed massive copyright law overhaul in the European Union, the EU Parliament sounded rejected the proposed amendments by a 318-278 vote.  The proposed amendments go back to the committee for revision.  

The European music industry establishment calls the vote a "missed opportunity."  It is interesting to note in this article the amount of money spent on lobbying by Google and YouTube (hint: it's a lot). 

Sir Paul McCartney Weighs In

Sir Paul wrote a letter to the EU Parliament urging them to back the Copyright Directive and address the Value Gap, which is the space between content platforms that compensate artists and creators, and content platforms that refuse to do so. 

“You hold in your hands the future of music here in Europe,” writes McCartney, stressing the importance of music and culture as “our heart and soul.” 

“Unfortunately, the value gap jeopardizes the music ecosystem,” he warns. “We need an internet that is fair and sustainable for all. But today some user upload content platforms refuse to compensate artists and all music creators fairly for their work, while they exploit it for their own profit.”

Expect some form of this debate to hit the United States soon. 

A Reality Check for Content Creators With YouTube Channels

It's no secret that YouTube has effectively replaced television and the radio in terms of the distribution of content.  For my clients who have YouTube Channels, and use that revenue as part of their business strategy, there is a recent study from Offenberg University in Germany that holds that the average YouTube channel owner can't generate enough cash to crack the poverty line in the United States.

The language of the write up in Bloomberg I've linked to is bleak, but it is a bit overly glum in my opinion. 

While YouTube's payment rates are a bit opaque, to be kind, my advice to budding entrepreneurs and creators out there is that revenue from a YouTube channel should be part of your strategy, but not your entire strategy.  Every stable business is stable because it has multiple revenue streams, and that concept certainly applies in the new economy.