CISAC position paper on the transfer of value

Overview

The way creative works (such as music, film and TV series, books and others) are accessed by users has seen a huge transformation in the last ten years. With the rapid evolution of the digital world, new business models and services have developed along with new channels of delivery.

This has also changed the licencing environment. Unlike in the past, creative content is no longer exclusively available from digital service providers that obtain a licence and pay for the content they provide. Such content is now widely available and shared through platform-based services. These platform services aim to attract and retain consumers by enabling them to access a vast volume of creative content, as well as information that may or may not be available in a different format elsewhere. These services do not create or invest in content. They aggregate or make available content that is already accessible on other websites or made available by the individual users of those platform services.

These platform services are at the heart of what is called the “transfer of value” (or “value gap”). The transfer of value arises because of a fundamental mismatch between the enormous value derived from creative works by digital services and the minimal value being returned to the creators of those works. While consumption of creative content is seeing explosive growth, the value of cultural and creative works is being retained by these platform services instead of being passed along to the creators.