Maciej Stuhr turned to the Minister of Culture. “Someone’s making some ice cream here.”

For several days now, there have been protests in Poland by filmmakers who oppose the latest decision of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, regarding the draft act on copyright and related rights, which is to implement the Copyright Directive in the digital single market.

Artists are sounding the alarm because, according to the project, Polish creators are not to receive royalties for “internet exploitation” of their works on streaming services, which are becoming more and more popular every year. It is worth mentioning that the “video on demand” market in our country already generates revenues of PLN 2.6 million per year.

Maciej Stuhr supports the filmmakers’ protest. He addressed Minister Sienkiewicz directly

Some time ago, the problem was publicized by Mateusz Damięcki, who played one of the main roles in the famous film “Furioza”. The production was watched by millions of people around the world because it was included in the Netflix library, but as the actor points out, he did not receive any royalties because Polish law does not guarantee this.

Now Maciej Stuhr, who is known for speaking out on important social issues, has decided to speak out on this matter. At the beginning of his entry, he admitted that he did not like to plead “his own case”, but he believed that the matter should be dealt with as soon as possible.

I don’t like agitating in my own interests. I prefer to support others in need. But the issue of royalties for creators from internet giants is strange for various reasons. Dear Minister, I am turning to you because for 8 years there was no point in demanding dialogue, there was no one to dialogue with. Today, when you say (more or less) that you will take care of it someday, it is not enough for our environment. In this entry I omit the obvious fact that this law must be passed, just like in the whole of Europe. But there are questions that no one wants to answer… Why did such a situation happen at all? Who benefits from this? Who wants the law to change later rather than earlier?

– we read.

Later in his statement, he pointed out that when royalties are not transferred to artists’ accounts, someone else benefits. “As long as these questions don’t have clear answers, we get the impression that someone is hiding something here, that they don’t take us seriously. Someone is playing tricks here… It’s a pity that Messrs. Szczerba and Joński are busy, because maybe they would be able to explain something to us ” – he concluded his entry, referring to two politicians of the Civic Coalition who, during the PiS government, carried out various inspections in public institutions.