March 4, 2019

The NMA reports that publishers have welcomed the outcome of the Legal Affairs Committee’s vote when 16 MEPs voted in favour of the text agreed in Trilogue (see item above).  Nine MEPs voted against it.

The next step for the draft legislation, which is supported by press bodies including the NMA, is the European Parliament plenary which is provisionally scheduled for the end of March.

A spokesman for the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, European Magazine Media Association, European Publishers’ Council and News Media Europe said: “We welcome the JURI committee’s decision and now call on the plenary to vote in support of Europe’s vital cultural and media landscape as it did by a large majority last September. The text, as agreed in Trilogue, would modernise copyright with a proportionate approach that does not stifle digital innovation.”

Under the text, reproducing more than “individual words or very short extracts” of press publications will require a licence. The act of hyperlinking itself is not covered by the Publisher’s Right, and it does not extend to the reporting of “mere facts”.

The NMA notes that it remains to be seen how the courts will interpret “very short extracts”, however the text emphasises that the effectiveness of the right must not be undermined.

As well as lobbying for a strong Publisher’s Right for UK publishers, the NMA is seeking clarity from the UK Government over how the proposed Directive will be implemented into domestic law as the Brexit process continues. To read NMA’s press release in full, click here.