“Antitrust Aid: Meta and Siae Sign Transitional Agreement for Italian Music on Social Media”

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Antitrust aid, dated April 21, produces a first result: Meta and Siae sign a transitional agreement for the return of Italian music, managed by the Society of Authors and Publishers, on Instagram stories and Facebook reels . The meeting point, to our knowledge, was around Meta’s proposal to extend under the same conditions the license agreement which expired in December 2022. “Following a transitional agreement signed between the parties, on the platforms social media of Meta we will return to listen to the music protected by Siae”, reads a note from the Society of Authors and Publishers.

“The SIAE expresses its satisfaction with this result, sought and obtained, 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 the also requires the EU Copyright Directive. . It also undertakes to continue negotiations in compliance with the decisions and interim measures dictated by the Agcm”.

The dispute opened in mid-March, when Mark Zuckerberg’s company, the holding company that owns Facebook and Instagram as well as WhatsApp, announced that it had not reached an agreement with Siae for the renewal of the license of Copyright. A communication to the “market” (read the users) which led to the decision to withdraw or silence, within the following 48 hours, the content containing traces of the Siae repertoire (the majority, to be clear, considering that Siae, as as a former monopolist, is the collection market leader in Italy). An operation not without objective difficulties, if it is true that in the early days also songs not managed by Siae but by other management companies, such as Soundreef, were affected by the ban. The dispute was brought to the attention of the Culture Commission of the Italian Parliament, before the Antitrust opened an investigation against Meta for abuse of economic dependence against Siae. In the meantime, the first official reactions are coming. Fimi, the Confindustria association of record majors, “comments positively on the result which allows fans and artists to have all the music available again on social networks”.