‘This exceptional book stands apart by offering a holistic and innovative analysis of creative value chains, bridging copyright and contract law with interdisciplinary, practice-based knowledge.’ Amélie Favreau, University Grenoble-Alpes

‘Essential read for creative industry professionals in music, visual arts and gaming, offering concrete political, legal and technological solutions to get creators paid and build fairer digital futures.’ Anthony Masure, Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD)

‘A MUST READ for those who want to understand the complexities of today's vivid debate on 'copyright grappling with GenAI', and to design possible solutions that pay attention to the various interests, markets constraints and policy objectives behind this legacy institution.’ Alain Strowel, University Saint-Louis and UCLouvain

‘A masterpiece for anyone active in the creative industries, offering a unique toolkit for policymakers and individuals committed to improving value distribution and artists’ working conditions, while fostering cultural diversity and human creativity.’ Pierre-Alain Hug, City of Sion Culture and Education Department

‘An essential contribution to contemporary debates on cultural production, Creative Value Chains is authored by someone whose solid academic and legal expertise is matched by first-hand experience as a musician, offering a lucid and critical analysis of platform power and the multiple layers that shape creative markets.’ Sérgio Branco, Director, ITS Rio

Creative industries are increasingly dominated by digital platforms, yet the distribution of value within these sectors, from music and video games to visual arts, remains deeply unequal. Recent examples include the remuneration of artists on streaming platforms and the use of creative works in AI training data. This imbalance threatens human creativity and cultural diversity.

In this book, Benhamou exposes the flaws in current models of value allocation and the inequities embedded within copyright systems. Focusing on the often-overlooked contributors to creative works, the book advocates rethinking copyright through a lens of distributive justice to ensure equitable compensation for all stakeholders in the creative process, including individual creators, invisible workers and digital workers.

Yaniv Benhamou is Professor of Copyright and Information Law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva.

Introduction: Contextualization

Part I: Evolution of the Creative Value Chains

1.Creative Value Chains

2.Digital Transformation of the Creative Value Chains

3.Common Characteristics

Part II: Solutions for a Better Value Distribution

4.Legal Solutions for Fairer Value Distribution and Cultural Diversity

5.Political Solutions

6.Individual and Technological Solutions

Conclusion: Myths and Demystification