Presentation in the Council of Ministers of the draft law on the regulation and protection of access to cultural works in the digital age

The draft law on the regulation and protection of access to cultural works in the digital age was presented to the Council of Ministers today.

Highly anticipated by culture and audiovisual professionals, this text provides concrete answers to three major challenges in the field of audiovisual communication in the digital age: the protection of rights, the organization of our regulation and the defense of public access to French cinematographic and audiovisual works that constitute our heritage.

Protection of the rights of creators

The bill strengthens the fight against websites that profit commercially from counterfeiting in violation of creators' rights, and thus destroy a significant part of the economic value created by cultural sectors. It thus facilitates all actions aimed at better combating counterfeit sites: establishment of a mechanism of «black lists», device against «mirror sites», specific mechanism against sports piracy.

Modernisation of regulation

To implement these new tools, the bill creates a new regulator, marking both the desire to move to the next level in the fight against pirate sites and to include this action in a broader policy of regulating online content. It allows the merger of the High Authority for the Dissemination of Works and the Protection of Rights on the Internet (HADOPI) and the Higher Audiovisual Council (CSA) to create the Authority for the Regulation of Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM).

This new regulator, more powerful and better equipped, will be competent in the field of audiovisual and digital content, whether it is to fight piracy, protect minors or defend the public against disinformation and hate online.

Defence of public access to French cinematographic and audiovisual works

Finally, the bill provides for the protection of our audiovisual and cinematographic heritage by ensuring that, in the event of the purchase of catalogues of French works by foreign actors, they remain accessible to the French public at all times. This is an important issue of sovereignty in a context where the demand for French and European works, which constitute our heritage and help forge our cultural identity, has never been stronger.

This ambitious bill is fundamental to defending French creation.