Streaming platforms are outlawed according to 7000 French artists

A year after the start of the screenwriters' strike in Hollywood, discontent is growing among French artists. Adami (Civil Society for the Administration of the Rights of Performing Artists and Musicians) published a column this Sunday to denounce the practices of streaming platforms. Signed by almost 7,000 personalities from Francethis open letter invites companies to comply with a law adopted in 2021 in France. It is the remuneration linked to audiences which is at the heart of the debate.

The arrival of streaming in the audiovisual panorama created a legal void which governments had to take advantage of. Platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ or Prime Video have revolutionized practices in the cultural industry and particularly in terms of remuneration. The vagueness surrounding the modes of distribution and audiences was at the origin of the anger of American authors and actors concerning residual rights, these sums allocated to artists in the event of rebroadcasting the works that they embody or give birth to. It is also this financial distribution of success which is at the heart of the demands of the signatories of the column published by The Parisian.

“Legally, the platforms are completely off the charts”

In France, the same problem arises while a European directive was born in 2019 to promote better remuneration for artists. It was applied to French law in 2021 and provides that agreements are negotiated with the giants of the industry. In 2024, however, the remuneration of a musician or an actor is – in the majority of cases – always proportional to the success of the series or film offered in streaming.

In the case of Lupine for example, Omar Sy was able to benefit from an incentive bonus while his colleagues had to make do with a flat-rate envelope allocated even before broadcast. The president of the civil society which manages the rights of musicians and actors in France specifies that the amounts are quite low, often between 1000 and 1500 euros. In its forum, the organization therefore urges Disney+, Prime Video, Netflix and others to open dialogue with the unions. According to Anne Bouvier, interviewed by Pointthese firms nevertheless do “turn a deaf ear even though they are outside the law”.

Towards a strike?

This Tuesday, May 14 marks the start of hostilities for the Cannes Film Festival, an opportune moment for the signatory actors. They might see this as an opportunity to make their voices heard. This Monday, May 13, several representatives of Adami were received by the Ministry of Culture and asked Minister Rachida Dati to put pressure on the companies concerned. In its column, the organization also cites European initiatives to make things happen, like that orchestrated by the Italian collective 7607. 3000 Italian actors requested the payment of 0.4% of revenues, but did not obtained only 0.3%. They therefore turned to the court of Rome to denounce these “paltry remuneration”. The idea of ​​a strikesimilar to those that took place across the Atlantic, is beginning to germinate.