Advancing
Creativity
The power of storytelling is limitless—transporting us to new worlds, introducing us to fresh perspectives, and powering narratives that challenge our thinking. When free to imagine and invent, the creative minds behind film and television captivate audiences worldwide and inspire the next generation of creators.
At the MPA, we’re committed to protecting the fundamental rights of creators—and bolstering the policies that protect them—so that our industry can continue to ignite the passions of fans everywhere
Why Copyright Matters
Throughout European history, the products of human imagination have played a vital role in shaping the world we live in. They expand our horizons and give rise to ever-greater creativity and innovation.
Creative ideas are unique. They need encouragement, dedication and protection. Creators must be rewarded for their artistic, intellectual and financial investments. This remains absolutely fundamental in the digital age. While technology is revolutionizing how consumers interact with creative content, providing exciting new opportunities for all of us, Europe must continue to ensure that the right conditions are in place for professional and high quality creative works to flourish. This requires strong intellectual property rights that foster creativity, innovation and investment in new talent, for example up-and-coming script writers, directors and producers.
In the film and television industries and in the creative sectors more broadly, players – large and small – rely on intellectual property rights to spread risks and enable different players to work together. Copyright exclusivity and contractual freedom underpin Europe’s delicate ecosystem of creation and financing.
Copyright exclusivity and contractual freedom underpin Europe’s delicate ecosystem of creation and financing.
Each creative work is a prototype that is created in a specific way and for a specific market. Often, its economic value cannot be determined until it has been released in a given market. Due to this uncertainty and high upfront investment in creativity, development and marketing, creative content involves significant artistic and commercial risks. Companies tend to work on multiple projects at the same time in order to minimize the risks of an undertaking that might result in losses. Similarly, a successful creative project can usually offset the losses of several other projects.
For example, several successful films are typically needed in order to make up for other projects which either had to be abandoned at project development stage or which simply did not recover production, marketing and distribution costs. The highly collaborative nature of creative content markets across Europe often results in a commercial model where several stakeholders commit to pre-financing a project before it is carried out.
The CreativeWorks! Creativity map shows some of the films made possible by this collaboration: