Tallinn, 21 June 2024
Delfi Meedia AS, AS Postimees Grupp, AS Õhtuleht Kirjastus and AS Äripäev have signed an agreement to found a collective management organisation of press publishers going by the name of the Baltic Press Publishers’ Collective Management Organisation (BPCMO). The organisation will promote the interests of press publishers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania related to their economic copyrights and related rights.
The BPCMO will provide support to publishers in negotiations with online platforms that use media content (such as Google and Facebook). Users of rights will have the opportunity to enter into agreements to more quickly and easily obtain permission to use media content. The organisation intends to take decisive steps to hinder the illegal use of media outlets. The organisation will also cooperate with other collective management organisations of press publishers in Europe.
“The Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian copyright laws give publishers of press publications the exclusive right to allow or prohibit the copying of press publications online and making it available to the public,” explained Elise Vasamäe, an attorney at law advising the BPCMO.
Press publishers are increasingly concerned about press content being used online without their permission. For example, search engines, social media networks and some media monitoring companies earn a significant portion of their revenue by using media content without seeking permission or paying right holders for it. “Media companies’ relations with social media networks, media monitors, search engines and companies that train AI must be based on reasonable agreements and respect for rights,” said Mari-Liis Rüütsalu, the chairman of the management board of the Ekspress Group. “Media companies have the right to decide how their content is used and to request fair fees for it.”
The BPCMO will negotiate on behalf of media companies on the use of media content and enter into corresponding licence agreements, as well as collect fees and distribute them among press publishers and protect the interests of press publishers in other ways.
Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian press publishers in particular are invited to get involved in the organisation’s activities. “Only together can we effectively promote the values and sustainable economic model of independent and reliable news media as an important institution in a democratic society,” said Toomas Tiivel, the chairman of the management board of the Postimees Group.
BPCMO