Besides new rules on contract law and dispute resolution, the most important amendments mentioned in the legislative proposal are:
- Creators and performing artists are allowed to dissolve the agreement with the operator of their rights prematurely. For example, when the production is not expoited: a non-use clause. Now, most of the times only the operator is allowed to prematurely dissolve an agreement. Furthermore, contract terms that prove to be unreasonable towards creative staff can be voidable under the new law.
- Individual creators are entitled to a fair compensation for the transfer of their rights or when they grant a license. This principle is also expressly introduced for people that have significantly contributed to film productions. Rights are no longer automatically concentrated around producers.
- The creator can claim a higher compensation for unexpected bestsellers. That is the case when, for example, the pay agreed with authors and or performing artists is disproportionately low in comparison to the revenue generated by successful exploitation of a work.
The new framework is designed to strengthen the position of authors, performing artists and other creative staff vis-a-vis the party that exploits their work. The Dutch government is of the opinion that their interests and contributions are often poorly protected and underpaid. This problem has to be legally recognized, according to the department of Justice.
From an international perspective, an important observation is that the current legal developments in the Netherlands could deviate from the law in other EU member states, were copyrights and related right to audiovisual works are mostly centered around the producer and were bestseller or non-use provisions may not be common. This may require multinational companies to assess whether their contracts for the Dutch market are still compliant with the law, once it is revised.
