The European Union is in the process of reforming copyright laws that date back to 2001, as part of a wider strategy to establish a Digital Single Market across the 28 Member States of the bloc, aiming to break down regional barriers to ecommerce.
Earlier this year an agreement was reached on ending geoblocks on travelers digital subscriptions by 2018. And EU consumers are set to say adios to mobile roaming fees from this June. So far so good, you could say.
But when the European Commission’s draft proposals for digital copyright reform were published last September they were criticized by tech companies as regressive, and by copyright reformists as a missed opportunity to modernize ill-fitting laws to make them fit for purpose in the Internet age.
There have also been warning of the potential impact on startups of the copyright reform, although it’s fair to say that the loudest complaints are coming from big US tech companies who appear to be core targets in the European Commission’s draft proposal, on account of the size and power of their content sharing platforms.
In the supporters’ camp, EU sources argue that the Commission’s proposals will help European creative and copyright-centered industries flourish in a Digital Single Market, and European authors reach new audiences — while making regional works widely accessible to EU citizens and across borders.
“The aim is to ensure a good balance between copyright and relevant public policy objectives such as education, research, innovation and the needs of persons with disabilities,” one EU source told us. “We trust that the discussions in the Council and the European Parliament will aim to maintain this ambition and will facilitate access to and use of copyright-protected content online and ensuring a well-functioning copyright marketplace.”
At the launch of the draft proposals last year, Andrus Ansip, VP for the Digital Single Market, summed up the balance the EC is seeking to strike thus: “Europe’s creative content should not be locked-up, but it should also be highly protected, in particular to improve the remuneration possibilities for our creators.”
