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The INFO2000 programme set out to stimulate development of the European multimedia content industry and to encourage the use of multimedia content in the emerging information society. To achieve that objective projects were identified that could contribute to the enhancement of the current multimedia rights trading environment in the Union by increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of multimedia rights clearance processes between rightholders and multimedia product developers.
Ten priority projects for a total support of EU funding of 2.2 Mio € were selected by Commission Decision E/1606/98 of 24 July 1998. Nine projects successfully completed their work by the end of 2000. The results of the projects which are now being demonstrated lead to interesting conclusions and offer potential for further progress. This brochure presents an overview of project results in order that the achievements of these multimedia rights clearance activities can be further consolidated. It is evident that:
- All projects have fundamentally contributed to INFO2000 programme objectives as well as to wider information society policy objectives as formulated under the Information Society action plan and the eEurope initiative.
- The call strategy based on involvement of key industrial players, coverage of many traditional sectors, pre-competitive catalysing incentives and a pragmatic attitude towards rights management modes is confirmed by positive signs in terms of exploitation potential.
- Awareness of the key issues has reached end-users through the visibility offered by a web presence, paper publications, numerous workshops, seminars and conferences publicising developments.
Projects under the MMRCS (multimedia rights clearance systems) action line have clearly contributed across the breadth of goals identified under the information society policy objectives in the Information Society Action Plan elaborated in 1996. They are likely to provide an equally valuable and strong contribution to the range of actions addressed by the eEurope initiative, adopted by the European Council in Feira (Portugal) in June 2000.
The successful projects cover a diverse range of issues and content industry sectors. Collectively they have provided a wealth of experience across the whole MMRCS market.
IPR concerns remain high on both business and political agendas, as evidenced by the high profile legal battles over music distribution on the Internet and by the intensive lobbying efforts around the Directive on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society. These cases indicate how fundamental the resolution of IPR clearance and trading is to the growth of the new economy and point to the difficulties of addressing the issue through legislation alone. Technology solutions to facilitate rights clearance and to assist multimedia producers in reusing digital content can go a long way to supporting a healthy multimedia industry in Europe and at global level.
The effectiveness and efficiency of the multimedia rights clearance process have a strong and direct impact on the adequate functioning of the overall multimedia market and on the regional and global competitiveness of the European multimedia content sector. The size of the overall content sector is estimated at 412 billion €, or 5% of the European GDP, ahead of both telecommunications (221 billion €) and the hardware/software (189 billion €) sectors. This translates into some four million Europeans employed in this sector. Content production has given rise to rapid job creation in recent years and can continue to do so. If obstacles to growth are removed, the digital media industries could grow at 20% per year over the next decade, more than twice the traditional creative industries. Internet users in February 2000 are estimated at 72 million in Europe, quadrupling between 1995 and 2000. The number of mobile terminals (GSM, WAP, GPRS, UMTS, etc.) is expected to exceed the number of personal computers within a few years. Most will be Internet enabled, creating additional demand of content to be tailored to these new device types.
The modest funding of INFO2000 has shown remarkable results. Based on the success of these projects we are confident that the work already begun will gain further impetus from the opportunities offered within the eEurope and eContent initiatives currently being implemented by the Commission. Orientations for the implementation of action line 3.2 of the eContent programme, with a budget earmarked of 3.3 to 5 Mio €, could enable larger projects to achieve substantial impact through further experimentation, favouring the emergence of a unified European rights clearance approach. In particular, we await with interest the response from those less advanced sectors and the development of more public sector applications.
We look forward with interest to the response to these opportunities and feel confident that the successes of the last two years can be consolidated. We hope you find this report interesting and transmit to the project co-ordinators and partners our congratulations on the success of their undertakings.
Jan Hoorens
Principal Administrator
European Commission
Information Society DG
Unit D2 Cultural Heritage Applications
March 2001
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