Dear Patrice Martin LalandeMesdames and gentlemen,Dear friends,

The time for loyalty is over. I am obviously talking about loyalty to a
only information media, on a dedicated technological support, and under a
particular form. For an increasingly large part of the public, the
relationship to information has become portable, personalized, participatory and
opportunistic. Like that to the information, the relation to the «contents
cultural” – whether in the field of writing, audiovisual media, or
the cinematographic work – is disrupted in its entirety. The
digitization of content and its convergence in an environment
now mature plurimedia are obvious opportunities for
It also forces us to rethink the
the modalities of public intervention at the service of professionals of
contents: publishers, media owners, journalists, producers and
broadcasters, and generally all the “quality guardians” who play
a decisive role in organizing a profusion that is not
unfortunately not always synonymous with freedom and pluralism of
the information.
In just over 10 years the professional practices and practices of the
were completely upset by the Internet, the 'meta
universal media. The widespread use of mobile devices
Internet (now estimated at 60% of mobile phone stock
French) is currently accelerating a transfer to
becomes a social experiment in its own right. It is one of the very good
news of the beginning decade: strengthening the social link with all
its consequences in terms of civic and cultural responsibility, the
respect for quality, and ethical commitment, becomes a
existential priority of the media. I certainly hope that in this
interest of the media meets that of their audiences, which is
also mine.
So thank you for inviting me to take stock of the work
on which the Ministry of Culture and Communication is committed
very concretely to face the double digital revolution and
This double revolution echoes the two priorities that are the
on the one hand, the defence of pluralism in production and
dissemination of information, and remuneration and funding
to preserve their diversity.
There are a great many open sites, three of which I will mention today:
directly concern the theme of your 4th Assembly of the
Media Convergence:
- First of all, the coherence of the legal and regulatory framework
the digital age.
- Secondly, encouraging the development of new offers.
- Finally, we sometimes forget the key to the success of media convergence
is a human key: it justifies a permanent adaptation of practices
The European Union’s Employment and Social Policy Committee, which is responsible for the development of the European Social Fund, is the European Commission’s Employment Strategy.
Adapt the legal and regulatory framework
Of course, the law does not ignore the digital revolution. My policy
e-book is a good example. My goal is to
promote the development of an attractive, abundant and varied offer
that meets demand and deters piracy of works, guarantee
fair remuneration for authors, defending it against the weight of
operators likely to impose economic models that
could be unfavourable to them, and finally preserve the diversity of the
creation.
The Digital Book Bill recently passed by the
The Senate is an important step in the pursuit of these objectives.
It creates an environment of trust for authors and
publishers, it will promote the digitization of books and increase
a very limited offer today. The principle of price control
by creators will rebalance unequal power of force
in the dialogue between creators and large operators
networks. Finally, the neutralisation of price competition between
retailers must encourage greater diversity in distribution.
This proposed law has a limited scope and does not have the
claim to regulate the economy of a creation yet to come. Some
criticise this reserved bias. I salute it on the contrary. It allows us to
not freeze the legislative framework in the face of sometimes unexpected developments in
the internet.
Like the book, audiovisual is also concerned with the adaptation of the
Law. Media convergence poses new challenges. Television sets
now allow a convergence of the
Internet on the same medium. This convergence is
a reality that is obvious: nearly 10 million French can
today access television via the Internet, and also the market of
Video-on-demand is experiencing accelerated growth.
After 18 months of consultation with all
sector – video publishers, broadcasters, authors and producers - with whom?
, the regulatory framework for on-demand services is now set, by
the Decree on On-Demand Audiovisual Media Services (SMAD),
which will come into force in a few days. The latter extends to
the principles of contribution to production on the one hand and
substantial exhibition of European and French works of other
part.
The recent development of Internet-connected television is
a new expression of the challenges we face. I have the
conviction that this is not a peril but an opportunity for our
our audiovisual companies and for the entire economy of the
culture. New services such as “Google TV” would not
development without respecting the rights and duties of all
French actors: creators, producers and broadcasters, and
in particular those that require the authorization of rights holders
before giving access to audiovisual content. Google, soon Apple
and probably others still Apple? , and TV channels will
engage in discussions, and I will therefore be particularly vigilant to
allow the value chain and compensation of the
creation to be preserved. Digital convergence does not affect
only audiovisual and book. The Creation and Internet Act did not
only creates the High Authority for the dissemination of works and the
protection of rights on the internet, it also put an end to twenty years of debate
on the secure management of journalists' plurimedia copyright,
essential condition for the development of the online press. Voted in
a record time following the States General of the written press, its setting
was finalized in August with the creation of an ad hoc commission
in the event that collective bargaining fails. The
should be confirmed shortly.
I want to say a word at this point about the unavailable works that will find,
as I wished, a second life thanks to investments
future. It is important for a wide public access to these works to adapt
the legal framework for copyright. In this perspective, a
is engaged by my ministry with authors and publishers.
Support the development of new services
The State must develop the framework of its direct and indirect contribution to
development of new digital content offerings.
I welcomed last Wednesday the decision of the Senate to apply a reduced rate
from VAT to e-books. This is a decisive and logical step forward that
to give the players in the book industry the means to
competitiveness in the digital age. This measure, if confirmed by the
Joint Joint Commission, will put an end to unequal tax treatment
between the physical and digital worlds that today constitute a
source of distortion of competition denounced by all actors of the
sector, and an inconsistency today officially recognized by the
European Commission.
Requested by the President of the Republic in January
The European Union’s Member States and the European
a balanced growth of the digital book market and I will ensure, as the
In January 2009, President Sarkozy expressed the hope that this principle of
media neutrality is also applied to the online press. I
Of course, it is not unaware of the pre-eminence of Community negotiation
on this issue, but today we must take advantage of openness
European Union. I have had the opportunity to defend these
our position with Nelly Kroes. These exchanges have
and I am pleased that the European Commission has
the current regime in its Green Paper on
the future of European VAT published on 1 December. I will now
to open up the loophole to the commission and to the
our partners. I brought this item to the agenda of the Franco-
which was held Friday in Freiburg and I have to talk soon
with Michel Barnier on this subject. The mission entrusted to Jacques Toubon
will allow us to move quickly on a complex but
The European Parliament has also called on the Council and the Commission to take a decision on this matter.
Perseverance pays, in this area as in others. Here is a
year, to the day, we installed the Ministry of Culture installed the
Joint Steering Committee of the new Services Support Fund
Online Press, the SPEL, created after the General Press Conference
written. In twelve months, the committee, supported by
copy of the Directorate General for Media and Industries
Culture (CMIB), reviewed 210 investment assistance files. The
number of cases heard has doubled in one year, from 70 to 140,
a total public contribution of €30 million (70 in 2009, 140
in 2010) for aid of (15.4 million in 2009 and 14.5 million respectively
in 2010). This is a real revolution compared to stagnation
of digital support granted over the past ten years, which
were only partially supported by the
Modernization of the Press. The fund supported all families of
press, and the number of files submitted by the «pure players»
increase steadily from 6% of aid paid in 2009 to 17%
in 2010. After one year of exercise, the recipients of the fund have
most of them have gone beyond simply switching their activities to
Internet and now use the fund for service development
innovative in the fields of mobile, community services.
This fund is an exemplary success of my department and I am
particularly proud.
This exemplarity of the proactive action of the State intended to stimulate the
our country’s digital growth potential is also that of '
investments of the future”.
4.25 Billion euros will be devoted to the development of
The Digital Economy”, and in particular to projects that
best return on investment possible and having the greatest impact in
terms of economic activity creation, jobs and development of the
territory. Cultural content is at the heart of this political ambition.
In an area where the transition to digital has long been “suffered”;
the ambition of the Great Borrowing consists precisely in anticipating and taking
Beyond the development of the legal offer, it is a question of serving
the creation and the cultural offer, through the establishment of a real
cultural digital sector. Among the thematic fields identified
the origin, that of the digitization of cultural, educational and
is a priority axis with €750 million.
Through this support, the State pursues three priority objectives: the emergence
innovative products and services using cultural content,
educational and scientific; the creation of a leverage effect on
private investment; support for cultural democratization and
transfer of knowledge, cultural and economic valorisation of the
digitized heritage.
I launched on December 8, along with Eric Besson and René Ricol, the
first call for projects “Digitization of Content”. This call is open
until March 2011 will support collaborative projects between
content providers, technology players and
research to develop innovative solutions for the
digitization, indexing, management and enhancement of content
cultural, scientific and educational projects. The first
will be selected before summer 2011, following a
first screening phase.
My approach is fully in line with the ambitious policy
led by the Government to
support the development of a legal content offering
and promote the new modes
dissemination and enhancement of cultural heritage and content
scientific and educational.
The challenge of vocational training in adapting practices to
digital revolution.
Investing, creating the conditions for a competitive development of new
innovation, will not achieve their goal of
provided that human and organizational structures appropriate
this digital revolution.
I understand the distress of some who rightly feel
confused by this acceleration of digital history. That is why
I pay particular attention to the preservation of the
in the context of the inevitable evolution of practices.
In the media sector, the Ministry of Culture and
Communication on vocational training
limited, and I am pleased, on this critical issue, to rely on
the commitment and support of several of my fellow
government. This is the case of Valérie PECRESSE with whom I have
organized example, with the professionals of the sector, the Conference
Nationale des Métiers du Journalisme which met for the first time
last September. It is a question of hiring without waiting a job towards more
consistency between the criteria for recognition of the profession for the
initial training of journalists and those on whom the Ministry of
Higher education in the university sector.
This meeting of two worlds, until now largely compartmentalized,
is the beginning of a process to reduce the gap between the 13 schools
recognized and the many other training courses in journalism
in France. By raising the overall level around a
reference framework that will be revisited by 2012, it will mainly be a matter of making them
focus on shared objectives of excellence and efficiency at
vocational integration service.
I’m afraid I’ve been too long for a closing of a symposium. Please
to apologize for this even if I have, by far, not exhausted all the topics that
all have in common the preservation of the freedom to inform and to be
in a pluralistic and diverse environment. Thank you for
your attention.