Category Regional Fora

The Text of Article 13 and the EU Copyright Directive Has Just Been Finalised

[Julia Reda, MEP] In the evening of February 13, negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council concluded the trilogue negotiations with a final text for the new EU Copyright Directive. For two years we’ve debated different drafts and versions of the controversial Articles 11 and 13. Now, there is no more ambiguity: This law will fundamentally change the internet as we know it – if it is adopted in the upcoming final vote. But we can still prevent that!

AG Szpunar on Copyright’s Relation to Fundamental Rights: One Step Forward and Two Steps Back?

[Daniel Jongsma] Abstract: This paper discusses three recent Opinions by Advocate General Szpunar of the CJEU, all touching upon the relationship between copyright and fundamental rights. It discusses several problematic elements in the AG’s approach. In dealing with questions regarding the scope of the reproduction right and the quotation exception, his over-reliance on textual arguments leads to expansive copyright protection. The arguable negative impact this has on the fundamental rights of others, and with it the question whether this interpretation strikes a “fair balance”, is largely ignored. Regarding the question whether fundamental rights can act as external constraints on copyright, the AG ultimately fails to develop a coherent framework suitable for use in future cases.

Ahead of Last Trilogue: On Balance the Directive Is Bad for Users and Creators in Europe

[Communia Association] Today we are launching a new minisite called “Internet is for the people” that provides an overall assessment of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. Our assessment takes into consideration all the key parts of the Directive. In order to do this, we analysed nine different issues that are included (or have not been included) in the proposal for the Directive: Upload Filters, the Press Publishers Right, Text and Data mining, access to Cultural Heritage, Education, the protection of the Public Domain, a Right to Remix, Freedom of Panoramaand Fair Remuneration for Authors and Performers. Each issue was then scored, allowing us to provide an overall score of the Directive based on an understanding of all elements of the proposal.

Communia Endorses Treaty on Education and Research, And Asks Others to Follow Suit

[Teresa Nobre] Communia has endorsed the Civil Society Proposed Treaty on Copyright Exceptions and Limitations on Education and Research Activities (TERA), and asks others to follow suit, ahead of the 37th session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR). SCCR/37 will take place from 26 – 30 November in Geneva, and civil society advocates will propose that the treaty’s provisions be considered as a model for future text-based work by the committee... The proposed treaty aims to establish minimum standards for copyright exceptions for educational and research purposes, while at the same time affording countries significant flexibility in how to implement these obligations.

Facilitating Wider Access to Europe’s Cultural Heritage in the Digital Environment: Opinion of the CEIPI on the European Commission’s Copyright Reform Proposal, with a Focus on Access to Out-of-Commerce Works

[Christophe Geiger, Giancarlo Frosio and Oleksandr Bulayenko] The Proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market aims at facilitating wider access to Europe’s cultural heritage through the introduction of inter alia a mechanism enabling the use of out-of-commerce works by cultural heritage institutions in the digital environment. After examining the key elements of this mechanism, this Opinion critically discusses the definition of the scope of search required for establishing the out-of-commerce status of works, the requirement of the representative character of collective management organisations and the non-application of the mechanism to third-country works.

Ciencia Abierta y Conocimiento Libre Para un Futuro Incluyente y Justo

[Alex Argüelles] Especialistas y activistas de la cultura libre en América Latina y El Caribe están buscando nuevas maneras de incidir en las políticas públicas ligadas al acceso a la cultura en todas sus variantes. A través de una declaración producida colectivamente, buscan establecer un referente para el avance de la región en torno a la ciencia abierta.

Copyright, Online News Publishing and Aggregators: A Law and Economics Analysis of the EU Reform

[Giuseppe Colangelo and Valerio Torti] Abstract: On 12 September 2018 the European Parliament approved the new version of the proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market elaborated by the European Commission in 2016. In order to address problems in protecting content and improve the bargaining position of press publishers against information society service providers, the European Commission decided to intervene on rights, introducing an additional layer of copyright, namely a new neighbouring right that will cover reproduction and the making available to the public of press publications to the extent that digital uses are concerned.

EU Copyright Reform Grinds into Trilogue Negotiations

[Communia Association] Last month the notorious EU Parliament vote approved almost all of the worst measures of the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. It was a significant setback for user rights and the open internet. ...After the plenary vote in the Parliament on 12th September, the Directive moves into trilogue negotiations consisting of the Commission, Parliament, and Council of the European Union (the EU Member State governments). The first official meeting of the trilogue was held on 2 October. ...The trilogue bodies will work to reconcile their versions of the directive text, and a final vote will take place in the European Parliament in early 2019.

What’s Going on With the EU Copyright Reform for Education?

[Lisette Kalshoven] The next major step in the EU copyright reform process is the vote scheduled for 12 September, when the entire European Parliament (about 750 people) will vote on amendments that are being put forward until 5 September. They will vote on amendments to the text put forward by the European Commission, which was shared back in 2016. The JURI report, which was rejected on 5 July by the parliament had several improvements for the education exception on article 4. It was, however, not nearly enough to truly make copyright work for education in Europe. For the purpose of the vote on 12 September, we need to work with the Commission text. Below we will share the three most important things to fix.

The European Commission’s New Proposal for Re-Use of Public Sector Information: Improving But Some Fixes Still Required

[Katarzyna Strycharz] Today, Communia submitted feedback to the European Commission on its proposal to amend the Directive on the re-use of public sector information. This is the second time the Commission has proposed to update the legal framework for access to and re-use of Public Sector Information (PSI) since the Directive was adopted in 2003. The most important changes from the previous amendment (2013) was the introduction of a genuine right to re-use by making  all content that can be accessed under national access to documents laws reusable, and expanding the scope of the Directive to cover libraries, museums, and archives. This time, the European Commission has proposed to make more research data available, extends the scope to public undertakings (including transportation data), and further limits the scenarios in which public entities may charge for data. This proposal was preceded by public consultations (see COMMUNIA’s response). We support the proposal to amend Directive, but at the same time we want to draw attention to some issues where the proposal should be improved.

What Can the Copyright Directive Vote Tell Us About the State of Digital Rights?

[Reposted from TechnoLlama.co,uk] As we have been covering in the last couple of articles, a controversial EU Copyright Directive has been under discussion at the European Parliament, and in a surprising turn of events, it voted to reject fast-tracking the tabled proposal by the JURI Committee which contained controversial proposals, particularly in Art 11 and Art 13. ... For years we’ve had a familiar pattern in the passing of copyright legislation: a proposal has been made to enhance protection and/or restrict liberties, a small group of ageing millionaire musicians would be paraded supporting the changes in the interest of creators. Only copyright nerds and a few NGOs and digital rights advocates would complain, their opinions would be ignored and the legislation would pass unopposed. Rinse and repeat. But something has changed, and a wide coalition has managed to defeat powerful media lobbies for the first time in Europe, at least for now. How was this possible?

The Copyright Directive: Misinformation and Independent Enquiry

[Martin Krechmer] A new academic statement has been released today in anticipation of the plenary vote in the European Parliament on the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, scheduled for 5 July, 12:00. More than 200 academics from over 25 research centres, including the leading European institutes, have signed open letters opposing Article 11 (new exclusive right for press publishers) and Article 13 (new obligation on platforms to obtain licences for content uploaded by users, or prevent the availability of such content by filtering).