Mexico. In mid-2017 the victory of the first battle of a long war between new digital platforms and digital piracy or violation of intellectual property of content was declared. This, since Cablevisión filed a lawsuit for the commercialization and reproduction of its contents illegally without its authorization and by which it was established as a precautionary measure, the prohibition on the import, sale and distribution of the Roku device in Mexico.
This measure was manifestly displeased by Roku Inc., but also by marketing companies and department stores, among others, so they promoted various injunctions to annul the precautionary measure. However, these have again been denied, so the ban remains in force.
The imposition of this measure bases its logic on the fact that the device has vulnerabilities that allow the illegal dissemination of restricted television channels by hackers who offered them for a monthly payment that could be made in convenience stores.
This battle against piracy and safeguarding intellectual property is relevant in light of what has been called 'value transfer' (see https://goo.gl/fZbwqm) currently taking place from content generators to digital streaming and video-on-demand platforms by subscription. In this regard, it is described that "the transfer of value has been made possible by a series of legal loopholes that allow creators to receive inadequate remuneration, or even none. Some online intermediaries do not seek authorization from rightholders or take advantage of existing loopholes," according to CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers).
A study focused on the Europe region (https://goo.gl/tzDf74) reveals that 61% of the revenue of online content platforms is directly or indirectly attributable to creative content. Meanwhile, CISAC's 2016 Global Collections Report reports that the fees collected by CISAC societies worldwide for the use of creative content in the digital environment accounted for only 7.2% of total collections.
In other words, while the consumption of creative content has increased exponentially, for example, those audiovisual through the offer on platforms such as Netflix and musicals via Spotify, creators receive an increasingly inequitable remuneration for the products of their work, which reveals at the same time, the lack of protection of their copyright in the current digital context.
It is for all of the above that CISAC urges governments around the world to take the necessary legal action to solve this problem, which is one of intellectual property and equity, simultaneously. This includes the protection of copyright before the platforms of content on the Internet that disseminate contents susceptible of intellectual protection of owners of rights and that share the responsibility at the moment in which these are violated or violated.
Given this collision between the advance between technological advancement and the rights of creativity, the 'transfer of value' and the ownership of copyright, the need for the issuance of legal and regulatory provisions that focus on guaranteeing the protection of the property of content creators in Mexico is manifest.
Today the creative and cultural industry that generates audiovisual content faces vulnerabilities through a device, Roku.
However, it is not a question of establishing responsibilities on a case-by-case basis, but of establishing a comprehensive policy for the protection of copyright, especially in this context of increasing connectivity, preference and consumption of content through internet platforms.
Text written by Ernesto Piedras of The Competitive Intelligence Unit.
