March 6, 2017

A number of leading academic research centres including the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (CIPIL), University of Cambridge, and the RCUK Copyright Centre (CREATe), University of Glasgow, have written an open letter to members of the European Parliament and the European Council criticising two significant proposals under the European Commission’s Copyright Reform Package.

The letter, which is headed “EU Copyright Reform Proposals Unfit for the Digital Age”, says that while the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market contains a number of reasonable, common sense measures, there are two provisions that are fundamentally flawed and do not serve the public interest. The letter states that:

• Article 11 seeks to create an additional exclusive right for press publishers, even though press publishers already acquire exclusive rights from authors via contract. The additional right will deter communication of news, obstruct online licensing, and negatively affect authors.
• Article 13 indirectly tries to amend the E-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC) that arranges the liability of online intermediaries for user-generated content into a shared responsibility of rights holders and service providers. The proposals will hinder digital innovation and users’ participation.

With respect to both provisions, the letter says that independent empirical evidence has been ignored, consultations have been summarised in a misleading manner, and legitimate criticism has been labelled as anti-copyright. The letter’s signatories urge the European Parliament and the European Council to “look inside the copyright package and seek out independent expertise”. Attached to the letter are two short appendices, setting out the key flaws of the proposals and listing sources of evaluation. To read the letter and appendices click here.