Copyright- Exceptions.eu

Kennisland collects information related to the national implementation of 22 exceptions and limitations to copyright in the 28 member states of the European Union. CopyrightExceptions.eu, launched on 8 September 2016, provides much needed clarity of the current state of implementations of the exceptions for all member states.

In the European Copyright framework the rights of users and public interest organisations are codified as exceptions and limitations to the exclusive rights of authors and other rightsholders. As such, they form one side of the balance between the rights of creators to exercise control of their works and the rights of the public to access culture and information. Two European Directives++Two directivesThe ‘InfoSoc’ Directive and the Orphan Works Directive. have provided a list of 22 exceptions and limitations to copyright. Only two of which are mandatory for member states to implement and there is considerable leeway on how to implement many of them. This has created a situation where user rights across Europe are a patchwork++PatchworkFor example, have a look at our overview on the implementation of the exception for research and private study.. For users the task of understanding what they can or cannot do with copyright protected works across the different member states resembles a puzzle.

While over the years a number of studies has been undertaken to provide an insight into the state of implementation of these exceptions++ResearchFor more information see our ‘Research background’ page., up until now there has been no easily accessible, up-to-date information resource about user rights across the European Union. In the past few months at Kennisland we collected and combined the information we could find from multiple sources and had the result reviewed by national experts. Per exception and jurisdiction information was gathered about whether an exception is implemented, whether the exception requires remuneration, links to national acts and any other comments on the specifics of the implementation.

Kennisland believes that a Digital Single Market should mean that all participants in that market have the same rights: the balance between the rights of creatorsUser rights across Europe are a patchwork. All participants in the Digital Single Market should have the same rights. and the rights of users should be the same in all member states.++Modernising copyrightFor more information see our case about modernising copyright in Europe. The current EU copyright framework is far from this, because it does not require the same harmonisation for user rights as it provides for creators and other rights holders.++COMMUNIARead more about this on COMMUNIA.

CopyrightExceptions.eu provides an overview of the current state of implementations of the exceptions for all member states. With this tool we can now have an evidence-based policy discussion on ensuring that all participants in the European Digital Single Market have the same rights.

CopyrightExceptions.eu is supported by a grant from the Information Program of the Open Society Foundations.

For more information or remarks contact Maarten Zeinstra (mz@kl.nl).

• KL'ers involved
• Maarten Zeinstra mz@kl.nl