German media: Alliance against "free culture"
The German media and publishing industry is joining forces in the fight against the «free culture» on the Internet. Through an «Alliance for Content,» ARD, ZDF, and private broadcasters, along with associations from the music, publishing, and film industries, are joining forces for the first time to advocate for compensation for their creative work on the Internet.
Their efforts are primarily directed against network operators, search engines and friendship portals. "Without content, this infrastructure will remain empty," threatened ZDF Director General Markus Schächter at the presentation of the German Content Alliance in Berlin on Wednesday. Protecting content from illegal use is the most important challenge for the media and creative industries, said Dieter Gorny, Chairman of the German Music Industry Association.
Above all, it is up to politicians to set the framework conditions here, said the President of the Association of Private Broadcasting and Telemedia (VPRT), Jürgen Doetz. The basis for this must be copyright law. The illegal downloading of films and music, for example, posed a threat to the existence of the entire media industry. (SDA)
