Cultural Policy

The creative industries are part of a complex business environment which is policed by regulatory frameworks which facilitate artistic creation, cultural diversity, and business activities in the culture sector. Due to the digital industries, the cultural and creative sectors are undergoing rapid change, leading to governments increasingly identifying a need to continuously assess the sectors to ensure that regulatory frameworks are still fit for purpose. The rapid changes that the sector is undergoing makes it hard for people in the creative sector as there isn’t any consistency in the frameworks and due to the funding constantly being changed, most of the time cut, for my enterprise I may have to watch my finances, although being a freelancer I perhaps wouldn’t have to worry too much as I’d generally be funding myself.

Due to the increase in digital technology, we’re gaining more ways of streaming music and sharing videos, therefore meaning we have to keep reviewing property rights as it’s getting increasingly likely for lines to get blurred and so we need to ensure that artist’s works are protected and they’re receiving the right revenue for their work whilst also ensuring it can be widely accessed. The development of the internet over the last 20 years has meant audiences and the market are vastly increasing, meaning policies are having to be adapted for trading, taxation, and even the establishment and operation of businesses. Me being a tutor means that I wouldn’t have to worry about the revenue situation as there’s nothing about my revenue I’d be receiving from the internet, although videos of auditions from my students would be surfacing online and thus these videos would have to abide by these laws.

The European Commission serves a variety of functions in the assessment of the regulatory framework, including the management of projects, the commissioning of studies and reports, and ensuring coordination with Member States to apply best practices.

The commission has commenced a number of activities in an effort to take major steps towards reforming the regulatory environment. They have done the following:

·         The directive on orphan works, meaning they work with not one clear owner of something for example a song, they’ll work with all relevant parties.

·         The directive on collective rights management, i.e. organisations that manage the rights of multiple parties when they all believe they should have rights to copyrighted work.

·         The directive extending the term of protection for performers and sound recordings to 70 years ;

·         The Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled;

·         The Beijing treaty on audio-visual performances ;

·         The General Block Exemption Regulation on state aid, which provides conditions for Member States to give state aid to culture and heritage conservation the audio-visual sector, without having to go to the commission about it first.

Overall I wouldn’t have to particularly worry too much about these rules as being a drama tutor is more about using your own techniques to help make someone better at what they want to do and therefore wouldn’t be breaching any rules in that department. However, one thing I would have to think about is the pieces that I’d use to aid the student in their learning, as I would have to get scripts but I would need permission to use them and therefore I’d need to search for scripts that have been put online or in books that are free to use, or I’d need to specifically ask a playwright for permission to use their piece.