[Advocacy Advisors] EU to tackle copyright reform

Fri Dec 7 01:52:52 UTC 2012

Was there any discussion of free-licensing government-created works? 
This seems like a worthy objective that doesn't adversely affect any 
commercial interests (which is the main roadblock to most copyright reform).

Ryan Kaldari
Wikimedia Foundation

On 12/6/12 2:49 PM, Dimitar Parvanov Dimitrov wrote:
> Hello again,
>
> since this is a mailing list and no one really wants to read long 
> stories I will try to recap the day and the positions in a nutshell. 
> It was basically a meeting with a long speech by the Commissioner for 
> Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier and a short speech by 
> conservative MEP Marielle Gallo.
>
>
> Barnier naturally started how this was this beginning of the process 
> of legsilative process, how they are open to discuss everything and 
> work with everyone. Of course he didn't miss to stress how important 
> the creative industry is to the economy, and while the internet has 
> brought a lot of positives (like giving more people access to quality 
> content) but also a lot of problems (it doesn't cover the investments 
> that authors, editors and production companies have to make to create 
> the content)
>
> About the *legislation strategy*:
>
>   * Let the industry and stakeholders find solutions themselves.
>   * Be prepared to legislate wherever necessary. Review the "society
>     and information" directive from 2011 if needed.
>
>
> His *vision* of copyright has three major points:
>
>  1. Make it easier for Europeans to access their *cultural heritage*.
>     Here the project Europeana and the Orphan Works Directive (which
>     doesn't allow commercial use, thus Wikimedia can't profit from it)
>     are mentioned as positive projects.
>  2. Make it possible for Europeans to access content across the single
>     market. *Remove geographically limited licenses* within the EU,
>     since the EU is a single market and such geographical limitation
>     are illegal for other products.
>  3. Reform copyright in a way to *allow* *authors to earn an**income
>     *and attracts investment in the creation of quality content.
>
>
> Worth mentioning is that he stressed several times that he is not 
> ideologically burdened and open to any exceptions and propositions, 
> *even exceptions in copyright*.
>
> Here the position of MEP Gallo was the absolute opposite as she 
> stressed that she is not talking of adapting the copyright itself, but 
> the way it works.
>
> Back to the Commission, they have started an initiative they call 
> "Licensing Europe", which should start a dialogue that lasts until the 
> end of 2013 to come up with very specific solution to cope with the 
> legitimate frustrations of consumers, companies and citizens. The 
> Commission has identified six questions around which the debates 
> should be structured:
>
>  1. Cross-border portability of content services.
>  2. Online access to audiovisual works.
>  3. Digitalisation and access to European films.
>  4. The judicial insecurity regarding the reuse of content online.
>     Consideration of one-click policies.
>  5. Questions raised by new search technologies and data mining.
>  6. The private copying levies. To wait for themediation process by
>     Antonio Vitorino.
>     <http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/barnier/headlines/speeches/2011/11/20111123_en.htm>
>
>
> Until New Year the Commission will draw up all the modalities for the 
> "Lincensing Europe" initiative so the process can start in 2013.
>
> In the Q&A there were quite some interesting questions (some from the 
> Pirate Party) which didn't really lead to interesting answers. The 
> Commissioner is clearly hoping for some technological solutions for 
> the copyright problems, but is open to other proposals. The question 
> about law enforcement when it comes to copyright was ducked by 
> referring to the broader picture and that any enforcement need to 
> demonstrate values that are felt as legitimate.
>
>
> Sorry for boring you, but reading this is your choice :). For those 
> who are still awake some gossip from the corridors: Apparently the 
> three Commissioners (Internal Market, Digital and Culture/Education) 
> are a bit competitive about who should have the leading role. It is 
> not clear yet who will dominate.  For us it would naturally be best to 
> have the latter two, as Barnier is more market oriented, while 
> Vassilakou focuses on culture and education.
>
> I will until January try to come up with a set of 
> ideas/proposals/demands, that can hopefully be discussed in the 
> Wikimedia movement (especially the European chapters) and lead to a 
> united and strong position early on in the legislative process. Let's 
> make sure this time we are involved throughout and have real chance of 
> input. I believe after ACTA blew up the Commission will be much more 
> willing to listen and cooperate.
>
> Best,
> Dimi
>
>
>
>
>
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