"The music is over, social networks are gone".
Paraphrasing a famous song by Ornella Vanoni can help explain what's happening on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta, the holding company that owns the two platforms, has announced that it has not reached an agreement with Siae for the renewal of the copyright licence.
As a result, the songs that fall within the Siae repertoire are blocked or muted on social media, while the others continue to be available.
''A unilateral decision that leaves us disconcerted", declares the Society of Italian authors and publishers. "We have licensing agreements in over 150 countries around the world, we will continue to strive to reach an agreement with Siae that satisfies all parties", replies the company by Mark Zuckerberg. "No to the Far West, the giants respect the works of genius and the legislative sovereignty of the States", underlines the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano who adds: "The indisputable freedom of the market must be exercised within shared and respected by all: it is the foundation of a peaceful and productive coexistence".Alberto Barachini.
Meta to enable the use of music on social media, which makes the posts of creators and influencers more engaging, strikes copyright agreements with music rights holders around the world.
In Europe it has partners in Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Turkey.
The break with Siae represents a world precedent for the giant from Menlo Park.
It impacts Reels (short videos on Facebook and Instagram), Instagram news feed, and Facebook and Instagram Stories.
On Facebook, the impacted contents are blocked, on Instagram they are silenced.
"Unfortunately we were unable to renew our licensing agreement with Siae - Meta announced - starting today we will start the procedure to remove songs from their repertoire in our music library. We will continue to strive to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties, We believe it is a value for the entire music industry to allow people to share and connect on our platforms using the music they love."
''SIAE is asked to accept a unilateral proposal from Meta regardless of any transparent and shared assessment of the actual value of the repertoire - replies the Society of Italian Authors and Publishers - This position, together with Meta's refusal to share the information relevant to a fair settlement,
it is evidently in contrast with the principles enshrined in the Copyright Directive for which authors and publishers throughout Europe have fought hard.
Siae has continued to seek an agreement with Meta in good faith, despite the fact that the platform is without a license as of January 1, 2023". For Mogol, honorary president of Siae and famous author and composer, the battle in defense of the authors "is sacred, these platforms make billions and are reluctant to pay for anything."
The music industry, through its president Enzo Mazza, hopes that "Siae and Meta will soon find an agreement in the interest of the growing music market in Italy and those entitled to it".
"We ask that Meta immediately reopen a negotiating table with Siae in good faith", echoes the president of the Music Publishers Federation, Paolo Franchini.
"The concern for the impact that the lack of agreement between Meta and Siae is very strong - explains the president of Confindustria Cultura Italia, Innocenzo Cipolletta - The duty of a global publisher like Meta, as well as the duty of a collecting society of rights as Siae is, is to always act to facilitate access to cultural and creative content and to ensure respect for the entire creative community and in this
Finally, findings also from Soundreef, an independent copyright manager.
"We know that the takedown of the songs by Meta is also affecting the repertoire entirely administered by Soundreef and foreign repertoires - underlines the group - It is clear that the outcome of the negotiation between Meta and Siae is damaging all the operating collecting societies, in Italy and beyond. We are contacting both parties to understand how the whole negotiation was conducted and we are working to restore on the Meta platforms all the songs of which he fully administers the rights".