September 19, 2016

The Commission has set out proposals on the modernisation of copyright to increase cultural diversity in Europe and content available online, while bringing clearer rules for all online players.

As a key part of its Digital Single Market Strategy, the Commission says that it has adopted proposals to allow:

• better choice and access to content online and across borders;
• improved copyright rules on education, research, cultural heritage and inclusion of disabled people; and
• a fairer and sustainable marketplace for creators, the creative industries and the press.

1.        Better choice and access to content online and across borders

• The copyright proposals have three main priorities:

2.       Improving copyright rules on research, education and inclusion of disable people

• In parallel, the Commission says it will use its €1.46 billion Creative Europe MEDIA programme to further support the circulation of creative content across borders. This includes more funding for subtitling and dubbing; a new catalogue of European audiovisual works for VoD providers that they can directly use for programming; and online tools to improve the digital distribution of European audiovisual works and make them easier to find and view online.
• To enhance access to Europe’s cultural heritage, the Commission is proposing a new Copyright Directive, which will help museums, archives and other institutions to digitise and make available across borders out-of commerce works, such as books or films that are protected by copyright, but no longer available to the public.
• To help the development of Video-on-Demand services in Europe, the Commission is asking Member States to set up negotiation bodies to help reach licensing deals, including those for cross-border services, between audiovisual right holders and VoD platforms.
• The proposed Regulation will also, the Commission says, make it easier for operators who offer packages of channels to get the authorisations they need: instead of having to negotiate individually with every rights holder in order to offer packages of channels originating in other EU Member States, they will be able to get licenses from Collective Management Organisations representing rights holders.
• With its proposal on the portability of online content presented in December 2015, the Commission gave consumers the right to use their online subscriptions to films, music, and e-books when they are away from their home country. The Commission is now proposing a new Regulation for broadcasters to obtain more easily the authorisations they need from rights holders to transmit programmes online in other EU Member States. This will cover programmes that broadcasters transmit online at the same time as their broadcast, as well as catch-up services that they might want to make available online in other Member States.
• The Commission is also proposing a new exception in the new Copyright Directive to allow educational establishments to use materials to illustrate teaching through digital tools and in online courses across borders.
• Under the proposed Directive, it will be easier for researchers across the EU to use text and data mining (TDM) technologies to analyse large sets of data. This will provide, the Commission says, a much-needed boost to innovative research.
• The Commission is also proposing a new mandatory EU exception that will allow cultural heritage institutions to preserve works digitally.
• The Commission is also proposing legislation to implement the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for people who are blind, have other visual impairments or are otherwise print disabled.

3.        A fairer and sustainable marketplace for creators and press

• The proposed Copyright Directive also aims to reinforce the position of rights holders to negotiate and be remunerated for the online exploitation of their content on video-sharing platforms. Such platforms will have an obligation to deploy effective means, such as technology to automatically detect songs or audiovisual works that rights holders have identified and agreed with the platforms either to authorise or remove.
• Newspapers, magazines and other press publications have benefited from the shift from print to digital and online services like social media and news aggregators, the Commission says. It has led to broader audiences, but it has also impacted advertising revenue and made the licensing and enforcement of the rights in these publications increasingly difficult. The Commission is therefore proposing to introduce a new related right for publishers, similar to the right that already exists under EU law for film producers, record producers and other players in the creative industries.
• The Commission says that the new right would recognise the important role press publishers play in investing in and creating quality journalistic content. As they will be legally recognised as rights holders for the very first time, they will be in a better position when they negotiate the use of their content with online services using or enabling access to it, and be better able to fight piracy.
• The draft Directive also obliges publishers and producers to be transparent and inform authors or performers about profits they made with their works. It also puts in place a mechanism to help authors and performers to obtain a fair share when negotiating remuneration with producers and publishers. This should lead to higher level of trust among all players in the digital value chain, the Commission says.
• To read the Commission’s press release in full and for links to the Communication and the draft legislation, click here.