Cultural and creative industries (CCI) have dual and intrinsic value since, through their direct links to artists and creators, they preserve and promote cultural and linguistic diversity, and strengthen European, national, regional and local identities, while sustaining social cohesion and contributing substantially, with various value creation models, to creativity, investment, innovation and employment and acting as a driver of sustainable economic growth in the EU and its Member States.
Cultural and creative industries in Europe provide more than 12 million full-time jobs, which amounts to 7.5 % of the EU’s work force, creating approximately EUR 509 billion in value added to GDP (5.3 % of the EU’s total GVA). In specific regions, CCIs represent a significantly higher percentage of GDP and employ a higher percentage of the local workforce. CCIs in the EU employ 2.5 times more people than automotive manufacturers and five times more than the chemical industry.
Authors and performers are at the origin and the very source of CCIs. Employment in the cultural sector is unlikely to be offshored, as it is connected to specific cultural, often regional and historical competences. CCIs comprise a majority of small and micro-companies and the cultural and creative sector (CCS) companies with fewer than 10 employees account for more than 95% of the workforce.
It is erroneously argued that there is a higher degree of risk involved in investing in CCIs compared with other types of business, and that argument is based, inter alia, on the fact that CCIs are IPR-intensive and that there are difficulties involved in using intangible goods as guarantees for financing.
Despite the fact that more cultural and creative content is being accessed and shared today than ever before, in particular on services such as user-uploaded content platforms and content aggregation services, and that distribution and production costs have fallen with technology developments, the cultural and creative sector has not seen a comparable increase in revenues from this increase in consumption, largely due to the lack of transparency in the value chain and of legal clarity and the difficulties experienced by traditional sectors in adapting to digital transformation.
The Commission is urged (de) to take the appropriate measures to facilitate the emergence of attractive legal offers and cross-border availability so as to reduce the value gap and ensure that authors, creators, performers and right holders receive fair remuneration for their works. CCIs are undergoing considerable modifications as a result of increased digital technologies giving rise to changes in the conditions of artistic production and influencing intellectual property law.