We defended compensation for private copying
In 2024, we fought for compensations for private copying in many ways. The private copying levy is provided to professionals in the creative industries so that every citizen can copy and store works for private use. It is based on an EU directive and the relevant legislation. The Government decided to halve the compensation, which is important to the creative industries, from EUR 11 million to 5.5 million. Kopiosto and AVEK Audiovisual Centre, which is a part of Kopiosto, have previously distributed EUR 5.5 million to the creative industries as private copying levies.
The audiovisual industry rose up to show that it supports the funds distributed by AVEK. AV-arkki (the Centre for Finnish Media Art) and the Finnish Documentary Guild collected hundreds of signatures in a petition to safeguard the operations of AVEK, while European film industry organisations showed their support for AVEK in the form of open letters. International copyright organisations also called on the Finnish Government to cancel the devastating halving of the private copying levy.
In the summer, we launched in cooperation with Luovat ry and the music industry’s copyright organisations Teosto and Gramex the ‘Älä anna kulttuurin kadota’ (Don’t let culture disappear) campaign in which we demanded that decision-makers preserve fair compensation for private copying. Like AVEK, the Foundation for Music Promotion MES and the Centre for the Promotion of Visual Art VISEK distribute support to the creative industries from the private copying levy. A wide variety of authors, creators and events around Finland who had received support from the promotion centres took part in the campaign.
The fight against the cuts continued in the autumn with the AVEK ‘Kasvutarinoita av-alalta’ event, where we offered members of parliament and their assistants information about the prerequisites for growth and opportunities in the audiovisual industry. In addition to this, AVEK Director Ulla Simonen and our CEO Valtteri Niiranen, film directors Selma Vilhunen and John Webster held speeches at the event.
Despite our best efforts, the cut was unfortunately not cancelled. Because of this, the financial support distributed by AVEK will be significantly lower already in 2025. The cut will affect the personal compensation distributed to the creators of TV programmes from the private copying levy in 2026.
We increased interest representation and advocacy cooperation with our member organisations
Strengthening the interest representation of Kopiosto is one of the focal points of our strategy. We aim to raise even more awareness of the copyright system that acts as the basis of the creative industries and the related needs in order to develop it further.
One of the bases of our advocacy work is building closer interest representation and lobbying cooperation with our member organisations. We launched an interest representation academy in order to fulfil this task. The objective of the academy, which convenes three times a year, is to strengthen our joint influencing potential and support our member organisations in their own lobbying communications.
In the first meeting of the academy in June, we presented our member organisations with our current themes for interest representation and talked about them. In the second meeting in September, we focused on a situational review of current politics as well as the aspects of carrying out interest representation and lobbying in the current political climate. The third event will be held in February, when we offer training about best practices in lobbying and public relations.
We trained authors and creators of the creative industries as well as the users of works
The training sessions and open copyright webinars we arranged in 2024 were attended by a total of 4,395 professionals from the education sector. We arranged nearly hundred training events in educational institutions and higher education institutions and met with the users of our licences for educational institutions at nine different events. In the autumn, we updated our materials designed for educational institutions, including the licence table illustrating the extent of the copying licence and our copyright checklist in schoolwork poster.
In the autumn, our lawyers shared information about Kopiosto authorisations in a training event for professionals in the audiovisual industry, which was arranged in cooperation with Avate Audiovisual Authors and Performers in Finland, the Finnish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild, the Association of Finnish Film Directors and the Finnish Actors Union. Training events concerning the copyrights and agreements in the audiovisual industry were held in Helsinki and Tampere.
Copyright remunerations support the creative industries
The copyright remunerations we collect from the copying of books, magazines, newspapers and online materials are distributed to the creative industries through our member organisations. Various grants, training events and awards continued to promote the performance of creative work and the creation of new works in 2024. Grants funded by our copying remunerations are received by more than 2,500 authors and publishers every year, and the remunerations are also used to present approximately 70 Finnish awards in the culture and communications sector. For example, the sum of the Arvid Lydecke award presented by Finnish Writers for Children and Young People, EUR 2,024, was paid from the remunerations collected by us. Last year, the award was presented to Taru Viinikainen for her book Saapastalon Aurora ja pelkojen pelko (2023, WSOY).
Surveys provide a base for developing customer experience
We want to ensure an excellent customer experience. We regularly ask our customer groups and member organisations about their opinions in order to understand their needs better.
In 2024, we conducted a survey of audiovisual professionals who receive compensation from us. Of the respondents, 91% were fairly or very satisfied with our customer service. The responses highlighted a wish that communications related to the payment schedule and distribution of remunerations be clarified, which we have started working on since.
According to the member organisation survey last year, Kopiosto’s member organisations are primarily very satisfied with our operations and services. We also asked about the organisations’ views of our advocacy work in the survey. According to the results, our member organisations are familiar with our interest representation goals and feel that they are meaningful for the sectors represented by the organisations.
Copying licences for companies and organisations easily available in the new licence store
At the end of the year, we made updates to our licence store, through which companies, joint municipal authorities, congregations and study centres can acquire our copying licence for professional use. Corporate customers were informed of the transition to the new licence store in advance in the autumn.
At the same time, we also changed the pricing of copying licences for corporate customers. In the future, it is also possible to purchase a licence valid until further notice. It is now easier to report changes that affect the pricing, such as new employees or officers, in the new licence store.
Intellectual property rights communication campaign and educational material
In the summer, we arranged in cooperation with the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Centre and the Finnish Patent and Registration Office a campaign aiming to raise awareness of intellectual property rights. In addition to copyrights, these rights include industrial rights, i.e. trademarks, patents and design rights, for example.
The campaign consisted of two phases. In the first phase, we produced video content for social media platforms. Later in the summer, we published the freely available intellectual property rights educational material, which is designed for secondary schools, upper secondary schools, vocational institutes and universities of applied sciences.
The campaign was based on the trend established in recent years, according to which infringements of intellectual property rights have become more common among young people and young adults. The campaign was carried out with the support of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).