Music represented by the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers (SIAE) is returning to Meta-owned platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp following a new agreement signed with the technology giant.
The deal is seen as a victory for SIAE, the main collecting society for tens of thousands of songwriters in Italy.
“Following a transitional agreement signed between the parties, the music protected by SIAE will return to listening on Meta’s social platforms,” SIAE said in a statement on Saturday (May 13).
The move comes after a temporary suspension of SIAE’s music on Meta’s platforms due to the parties’ failure to renew a licensing deal earlier this year.
SIAE most recently said it “expresses satisfaction with this result, sought and achieved, but remains committed to protecting the interests of its members by continuing to work tirelessly to reach a definitive and lasting agreement based on fairness and transparency, as also requested by the European Directive on Copyright”.
“Following a transitional agreement signed between the parties, the music protected by SIAE will return to listening on Meta’s social platforms.”
SIAE
The agreement follows an order handed down by Italy’s competition watchdog, the AGCM, less than a month ago, ordering Meta to resume talks with SIAE, after the pair failed to reach an agreement on the use of SIAE’s repertoire on Meta-owned platforms.
With the absence of an agreement between the two parties since January 1, SIAE in March claimed that Meta decided to remove its members’ songs on Facebook and other Meta platforms.
Meta also claimed in late March that SIAE refused to accept any offer that fell short of a 310% increase over their 2022 deal. SIAE rejected this statement, saying the new license is not comparable to the one signed in 2020.
An official from the ICMP – the trade body representing the music publishing industry worldwide including the major publishers — told MBW at the time that Meta demanded “a ‘take it or leave it’ fee and when not happy, removing music to try and devalue the deal.”
“A company like Meta refusing to pay the appropriate licensing fee for the use of these works impacts the livelihoods of millions of creators and music professionals,” said ICMP Director General John Phelan.
This prompted Italy’s competition watchdog, the AGCM, to launch a probe into Meta’s handling of the licensing negotiations in early April.
At the time, the AGCM said: “Meta could have exploited its bargaining advantages by requesting SIAE to accept an unfair economic offer without providing to SIAE the relevant information to assess the economic fairness of the offer.”
The investigation looked into whether Meta prevented the use of all musical content of songwriters represented by SIAE, adding that its alleged “abuse of economic dependence… could have a significant impact on competition in the affected markets and cause great harm to consumers.”
Most recently, SIAE said it continues to undertake negotiations with Meta in compliance with the decisions and measures dictated by the AGCM.
Music Business Worldwide
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