Reform of European copyright law

For many years, Kennisland has campaigned for the modernisation of copyright law, so that it offers more space to Internet users, public bodies, researchers and innovative companies.++UPDATEAt the end of 2018 we have ended our activities in the areas of copyright and cultural heritage. Kennisland has been working on these themes for over a decade. Read what we have done to improve copyright and access to digital heritage. In September 2016, the European Commission presented plans for copyright reform that, from our perspective, are very disappointing. That’s why we’re lobbying in Brussels for radical changes to these plans.

In May 2015, following a long period of inactivity, the European Commission announced its intention to modernise European copyright law. This intention is part of the digital single market strategy, one of the priorities of the Commission that took office at the end of 2014 under the leadership of president Jean-Claude Juncker. In September 2016, the European Commission presented concrete plans in the form of a proposal for a copyright in the the Digital Single Market (DSM) directive. The proposed directive is currently being discussed in the European Parliament and European Council.

Kennisland has a long history in advocating for a modernisation of the EU copyright framework++ Modern copyright law for EuropeSee our previous Case on Modern copyright law for Europe here.. Although the reform process has been largely hijacked by attempts by organisations representing the interests of the music industry to further tighten copyright rules, we nevertheless see the discussions on the DSM directive as an opportunity to improve European copyright law. Since the presentation of the European Commission’s plans in 2015. we have greatly expanded our activities around the topic of copyright lIn May 2015, following a long period of inactivity, the European Commission announced its intention to modernise European copyright law.aw.

A disappointing proposal

The European Commission’s original proposa l++Disappointing proposalRead COMMUNIA’s initial response to the September 2016 proposal here. was disappointing, as it focused far too much on protecting existing business models (such as additional rights for press publishers and mandatory upload filters for online platforms desired by the music industry) instead of adapting the existing copyright rules to the requirements of the digital environment. With regards to the latter, the proposal falls short: the proposed exceptions for online education, text and data mining and heritage institutions are far too restrictive. That’s why we’re campaigning for improvements to the proposal in these areas. We are doing so with a combination of activism and lobbying through two channels:

Through COMMUNIA, we have joined forces with several European partner organisations in the battle for new copyright rules. Some specific focus areas are (online) education, and protecting the open nature of the Internet as a platform for co-creation, access to culture and a medium for creative expression. In addition, COMMUNIA is campaigning for better rules for text and data mining, and is fighting against additional rights for press publishers.

IThe European Commission’s original proposal was disappointing, as it focused far too much on protecting existing business models.n addition, we are lobbying on behalf of (and in collaboration with) Europeana for a better copyright position for cultural heritage institutions. In this area, we are primarily focused on improving the European Commission’s proposals for access to Out of Commerce works ++A better way to access Out of Commerce worksRead Europeana’s initial reaction to the Commission’s proposal here, which includes a proposal for a better way to safeguard access to digitised heritage.contained in the collections of Libraries, Archives and Museums. In this context, we are also campaigning for the broadening of the exceptions proposed by the Commission for educational use, text and data mining, and preserving works in the collections of heritage institutions.

Results

At present, the European legislative process is still very much ongoing++TimelineThe European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (the member states) are not expected to present their response to the Commission’s proposals until the spring of 2018. Agreement must subsequently be reached between the Parliament, Commission and Council., and it is too early to judge the results of our efforts. Nonetheless, there have been a few positive interim results. For example, in collaboration with Europeana and heritage institutions from across Europe, we have succeeded in getting the question of access to OutWe have succeeded in activating a network of educational professionals and organisations to campaign for a better educational exception to copyright law. of Commerce works on the Commission’s agenda (although much can be done to improve the proposed solution).

Through COMMUNIA, we have succeeded in generating more attention in the European Parliament for the position of users. We have also succeeded, via the rightcopyright.eu campaign, in activating a network of educational professionals and organisations to campaign for a better educational exception to copyright law.

Support

Our activities related to the reform of European copyright law are (or were) supported by the following parties: Open Society Foundations, Google, Europeana, Mozilla and the NLnet Foundation.