BERLIN and LONDON, February 2023

In light of the amended German Copyright Act (Urheberrechtsgesetz) from 2021 and a pro-active reporting obligation of rights users to copyright holders coming into effect this year, media-tech company FilmChain has partnered with Produzentenverband (German Producers Association) to deliver a bespoke reporting platform. For years, the EU has promoted transparency obligations across the entire industry, and Germany is the first but certainly not the last country to start implementing greater data dissemination on revenue and performance of productions. Celebrated by many, the legislation is triggering challenges for production companies that need support in handling these duties.

The goal of this collaboration is to develop an easy-to-use reporting tool that reduces the administrative burden of film and TV producers, allows them to report on revenue and audience data to creators, and ultimately increases transparency along the value chain. While Produzentenverband as a commissioner of the product brings their expertise into the development process, the reporting software is not meant to be exclusive for its members but will be available for all producers to use.

The launch is planned for mid-2023 in Germany with other territories likely to follow. The reporting software for German producers will be FilmChain’s third product.

“We are continuing on the path of consolidating ties with Produzentenverband members, who we are successfully collaborating with since 2019. We are joining our knowledge of easy reporting and accessible dashboards and their knowledge of the audiovisual landscape in order to help producers overcome the reporting hurdles. Most certainly, more European countries will follow Germany’s initiative to bring greater transparency to copyright holders and we are here to support them.” said Tanjala, co-CEO & co-founder of FilmChain.

“While the reports generated by FilmChain’s platform follow the reporting obligation of producers to copyright holders, who are legally entitled to receiving details about the titles they have worked on, in our vision, they are also an important step towards harmonizing the producers' revenue reports to funds and financiers and, above all, towards comparable, transparent and comprehensible reports from distributors to producers,” said Schmidt, Managing Director of the Produzentenverband.

FilmChain is a leading expert in the field of media and technology. Since the team entered the film and TV market in 2018 with the first digital collection account management service (CAM), FilmChain has been at the forefront of leveraging technology, including blockchain, to reduce friction and accelerate payment flows in the entertainment industry. In 2022, they made it their mission to deliver automation to distributors as well. They launched their second product, FilmChain royalties management solution, which caters to media enterprises. It allows teams to easily manage their workflow including data ingestion, royalty calculations, report generation and delivery to licensors.

The German Producers Association is a creative, economic and innovative network with 138 members and a section for emerging producers. It is the main representative of independent cinema, streaming and television producers in Germany. The association articulates their film and market policy and interacts on their behalf with funds, broadcasters, politics and national and international industry associations.

Contact:

Irina Albita - [email protected]

Maria Tanjala - [email protected]

Erwin M. Schmidt - [email protected]

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