[Wikimedia-l] EU Policy Monitoring Report for November

Tue Dec 3 07:38:32 UTC 2013

Sorry for cross-posting on Wikimedia-l, but last month there was a problem
with getting the message out over Advocacy Advisors. I also believe that
this month is particularly relevant.

EU Policy November Report

a.k.a.

Keep it short, stupid!

Groetjes uit Brussel! [1]

As the days are getting shorter in the Northern Hemisphere and so will be
this report. That is due to popular request and not lack of humongous
amounts of information. We can always take a topic further and go deeper,
just give me a hint.

Dimi

tl;dr

Copyright reform dialogue,PSI guidelines and study on the “contribution of
public domain works and open licensing to the European economy” likely to
come.

ToC

1. New Copyright Reform Consultation Announced

2. Public Sector Information Hearing in Luxembourg

3. Study on Public Domain and Open Licensing by EC

4. Trademark Directive and Encyclopedias

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#copyright #reform #l4e

1. The Tragic End of Licenses 4 Europe and New Hope for Copyright Reform

Why is this relevant?

It is the lead-up to the now confirmed future consultation on a wider
copyright reform.

What happened?

The final plenary of Licenses for Europe (European Commission stakeholder
dialogue on copyright topics)  took place in Brussels [2] without
delivering any palpable, legislative results or even proposals. It was
complemented by an event at the European Parliament concentrating on the
aspect of text and data mining. [3] Me and Mathias Schindler (WMDE)
participated at both events. In the latter, Mathias presented opportunities
how Wikimedia projects can be used in text mining applications. At both
events we also supported the point of view, that mining is essentially
reading using sophisticated tools and that a general debate on copyright is
necessary, instead of coming up with new licensing requirements for yet
another range of cases. A last remark from the EP event: It was the first
time I have ever heard a conservative EPP politician (Zalewski, PL) calling
for shortening copyright terms and decriminalising file sharing.

What comes next?

According to Commissioner Barnier, the European Commission will “very soon
launch a public consultation on copyright”. [4] Licenses 4 Europe was
supposed to be the industry's chance to solve the problems on its own. This
has clearly not happened, so that even Barnier had to admit that “a
legislative proposal is very well possible [*fr. bien possible*] because
markets cannot resolve all problems. I am not satisfied with the results
and with the current situation.”. My personal guess is that we will see an
announcement in December and a start of actual stakeholder consultation
somewhere in March 2014. The actual proposal will have to be finalised by
the new Commission at the end of 2014. One could only guess about the
scope, but people from within the Commission have told us that “big
discussions” are going on inside the institutions with “major upsets” on
the table.

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#PSI

2. Public Sector Information Hearing in Luxembourg

Why is this relevant?

The 2013 amendments to the PSI Directive [5] need to be implemented. As
many member states and institutions are having a hard time understanding
the subject matter, the Commission wants to release best practice
guidelines.

What happened?

Again me and Mathias Schindler (WMDE) participated in the hearing.
Beforehand we had coordinated our position with the Open Knowledge
Foundation, Creative Commons, LAPSI [6] and several other like-minded
groups. Our general talking points were as follows:

   -

   No NC restrictions (we also gave out our relevant brochure [7])

   -

   Free of charge access (since charging for it would be prohibitive and
   result in lack of income anyway)
   -

   Use of “standard” licenses (e.g. cc0 or cc-by) instead of creating new
   ones (see [8])

What comes next?

The Commission will have another discussion round with member states’
national representatives and then move on to writing said guidelines.

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#IPObservatory #OHIM #IPvalue #PDvalue

3. IP Observatory Open to Commissioning Study on Importance of PD&Free
Licenses

Why is this relevant?

The EC has created an Observatory of Intellectual Property Rights
Infringements (run by OHIM) that is meant to serve as a place where
narratives regarding intellectual property are shaped.

What happened?

Me and Nikolas Becker attended the plenary last month (see last monitoring
report for further details [9]). As we felt that the commissioned reports
are biased towards underlining the how crucial intellectual property is to
the European economy, we asked for a study on the contribution of the
public domain and open licensing to the European economy. As we followed up
this request and also had like-minded organisations ask for a similar step,
we have now received an official answer that the OHIM will try to include
such research in their 2014 working programme. [10]

What comes next?

I am invited on the 17. December at the OHIM offices in Brussels for a
Christmas reception. I expect to have more information by that date the
latest. If anyone else is in Brussels at this time, let me know and I can
ask for a second invitation.

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#trademark #encyclopedia

4. Trademark Directive: Encyclopedic Reproductions

Why is this relevant?

There are currently two legislative proceedings regarding trademarks in the
EU. A Directive, which governs trade mark law in each member state [11] and
a Regulation, which lays out the rules for the European trade mark and the
OHIM [12]

What happened?

The Dossiers and possible amendments are being negotiated in the JURI
Parliamentary Committee (Legal Affairs) with Swedish liberal (ALDE) MEP
Cecilia Wikström serving as Rapporteur. One of the discussed aspects is an
specification for publishing trademarks in works of reference. The current
relevant text is Article 12 of the Directive. It reads:

“If the reproduction of a trade mark in a dictionary, encyclopaedia or
similar reference work gives the impression that it constitutes the generic
name of the goods or services for which the trade mark is registered, the
publisher of the work shall, at the request of the proprietor of the trade
mark, ensure that the reproduction of the trade mark at the latest in the
next edition of the publication is accompanied by an indication that it is
a registered trade mark.”

What comes next?

A first plenary reading is forecasted for February 2014. This usually means
that by then the Parliament should have finalised its position and should
have come to an agreement with the Council.

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[1]http://staaltape.wordpress.com/groetjes-uit-brussel/

[2]
http://ipkitten.blogspot.be/2013/11/licences-for-europe-insiders-report.html

[3]
http://eventstream.streamovations.be/copyright-research-and-innovation-policy.php

[4]https://twitter.com/linotherhino/status/400664940778106880

[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_on_the_re-use_of_public_sector_information

[6]http://www.lapsi-project.eu/

[7]http://www.wikimedia.de/images/1/15/CC-NC_Leitfaden_2013_engl.pdf

[8]http://xkcd.com/927/

[9]
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2013-November/128738.html

[10]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PRES_Dimitrov_reply_Narratives_and_study_proposal.pdf

[11]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2013/0089%28COD%29&l=en

[12]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2013/0088%28COD%29&l=en