Hi Dimi
I see from this communication, published last week, that the Commission
is assessing options and will consider legislative proposals on other EU
exceptions by spring 2016, in order to:
* allow public interest research organisations to carry out text and
data mining of content they have lawful access to, with full legal
certainty, for scientific research purposes;
* provide clarity on the scope of the EU exception for 'illustration
for teaching', and its application to digital uses and to online
learning;
* provide a clear space for preservation by cultural heritage
institutions, reflecting the use of digital technologies for
preservation and the needs of born-digital and digitised works;
* support remote consultation, in closed electronic networks, of works
held in research and academic libraries and other relevant
institutions, for research and private study;
* clarify the current EU exception permitting the use of works that
were made to be permanently located in the public space (the
'panorama exception'), to take into account new dissemination channels.
Do you know what will happen in practice? Will there be draft
legislation in the spring, and will we get any chance to influence the
wording?
Best regards
Michael
Wikimedia_UK_logo_40px.png
Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK
Totally spamming you all (sorry if that's inappropriate), but the Open
Rights Group is running a crowdfunding campaign.
Lazily, the email from our comms director to the advisory council is below.
And now I shall return you to your scheduled programming. (Sorry!)
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Pam Cowburn <pam(a)openrightsgroup.org>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2015 at 12:01
Subject: [ORG-advisory] ORG kickstarter now live - please can you promote!
To: The ORG Advisory Council
We’ve launched the kickstarter to raise funds for a film about
surveillance. It would be great if you could promote to your networks. Here
is a suggested tweet:
Can you help @OpenRightsGroup <https://twitter.com/OpenRightsGroup> to
challenge the Government’s PR offensive on surveillance #snooperscharter
<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23snooperscharter> #ipbill
<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ipbill>
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/campaign-against-mass-surveillance-in-th…
Thanks
Pam
Pam Cowburn
Communications Director
pam(a)openrightsgroup.org
07749785932
@pamcowburn
_______________________________________________
ORG-advisory mailing list
ORG-advisory(a)lists.openrightsgroup.org
https://lists.openrightsgroup.org/listinfo/org-advisory
AC meetings:
6.30pm 101 St Martin's Lane
irc://irc.freenode.net:6667/orgadvisory
Conference line +44 20 7070 7343 Room 7812#
**2015 Dates**
Tuesday 15 September
Monday 7 December
tl;dr
The European Commission wants a fully harmonised copyright. One day. For
now, they are planning two reform packages - in December and June 2016.
Simultaneously there is more and more pressure on regulating a new
enforcement and liability regime online.
-----------------
This and past reports: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Monitor
-----------------
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Monitor>-----------------
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Monitor>-----------------
Copyright Reform Leak: The European Commission “leaked” a draft
Communication [1] that will announce two copyright reform packages. It
makes us expect three things:
-----------------
1) Small reform package in December: Before year’s end we’ll hear an
announcement that the Marrakech Treaty [2] should be transposed as a
compulsory & harmonised copyright exception for people with print
disabilities. We’re expecting the pomme de discorde to be a “commercial
availability” restriction proposed by publishers. This would mean that in
order to use a work under this new exception one would first have to prove
that the work is not available.
-----------------
2) June 2016 a larger reform will be proposed. The Commission still doesn’t
know what will be in it (we’re hearing that the political cabinets have not
reached an agreement yet, while the services are ready with draft texts).
Apparently six issues have survived so far: “out-of-commerce”, “remote
consultation”, “preservation”, “teaching illustrations”, “panorama” and
“text and data mining”. The question is what the corresponding exceptions
and limitation might look like. There are two ways it can go - fully
harmonised exceptions or minimum standards. In the first case, having a
restrictive exception (e.g. for non-commercial uses only) would be the main
risk. In the second case, an unambitious minimum might mean little change
in reality.
-----------------
3) Enforcement: Little surprisingly when dealing with copyright reform,
calls for stricter and stronger online enforcement of IP rights is never
far off. Multiple independent sources within the Commission have confirmed
that they plan to propose an enforcement reform along with the copyright
reform package. Again, there are two possibilities at hand: the e-Commerce
Directive [3] and IPRED [4]. The e-Commerce Directive currently grants ISPs
“liability breaks” that allow them to safely handle large amounts of
traffic and content without taking up huge legal risks. IPRED deals with
enforcing IP rights. If a overly strict liability for ISPs and online
platforms is introduced, this might pose serious problems for anyone
hosting and harbouring large amounts of user-generated content. Our
analysis is that an IPRED reform as well as notice & action prodecures
[5][6] are likely. Chances are that the e-Commerce Directive will remain as
is.
-----------------
-----------------
Satellite and Cable Directive: In an interesting last-minute manoeuvre the
Commission is now openly hinting (through a leak and a now closed
consultation [7]) at the possibility make force regulate cross-border
access to content that if the industry doesn’t manage. They are looking
into doing so by extending the SatCab Directive [8] to the online
environment. It came into force in 1995 and made it legally possible for a
TV channel to broadcast its signal across the Union without having to clear
the rights for each country, as long as it does not actively market its
product to other national markets. Applying the same principle to the
internet might be legally challenging, but it is a powerful threat to
collecting societies and rightsholders who fight hard to keep the
territoriality of copyright.
Further reading:
http://ipkitten.blogspot.be/2015/08/does-eu-want-to-get-rid-of-geoblocking.…
-----------------
-----------------
Platforms Liability Debate: As there is an open attempt to make online
platforms more liable [9][10][11] for content they host and publish and
there is an ongoing consultation on platforms [12][13], the debate is
picking up pace in Brussels. There was a discussion in the Internal Market
and Consumer Protection Committee of the EP (IMCO) on the 16th. Vicky Ford
(ECR) and Kaja Kallas (ALDE) read statements that more or less agreed on
the importance of platforms and the need to make sure they can continue to
function while also pointing to the e-Commerce Directive. It being the
legislation that grants “safe harbour” status to ISPs, this is the line
most online platforms are happy to hear. Gerard de Graaf, Director of the
Digital Economy Unit in DG Connect reaffirmed that the Commission is trying
to come up with a single definition for digital platforms while admitting
that they are struggling to square the circle between common traits and
differences. He emphasised that they are analysing the current role of
platforms focusing on issues like hate speech, application of copyright
rules and notice and action procedures. A representative of the German
Permanent Representation to the EU stated that his government feels close
to the principles of the e-Commerce Directive.
-----------------
-----------------
Paris Attacks, Privacy & Data Protection: There have been both European
Parliament debates [14] and a Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting [15]
on the question how to proceed after the latest terrorist attacks in
France. Strong calls to rapidly conclude the General Data Protection
Directive [16] before the end of the year, to approve the also stalled
Passenger Name Record rules [17] and to exchange more security-related
information between Member States were made. On the other hand, warning
were shared that enough information is being gathered already and that the
question is more of acting upon it rather than throwing more hay to the
haystack. The debate is gravitating around privacy vs. more data
collectionand is likely to go on for a while.
-----------------
-----------------
Big Fat Brussels Meeting - Episode 3: The third annual EU Policy working
group meeting took place in November. Two outputs are that the (lack of)
interoperability (of systems and file formats) was identified as a barrier
to access to knowledge and that safeguarding the public domain by not
allowing new copyright on faithful digitisations is both a priority and
seems politically feasible.
-----------------
-----------------
Quick messages:
-----------------
Empowering Women Online: The European Parliament Committee on Women’s
Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) has requested an in-depth analysis on
opportunities, risks and challenges for women online, which now has been
released. [19] It lists and briefly describes the existing international
and EU-level initiatives in this area.
-----------------
EPP Group on Copyright: The European Parliament’s largest group has
released their position on copyright reform. [20] Their baseline is that no
reform is needed and licenses can solve everything. That same month the
second largest group S&D admitted that they were split on the subject (as
stated by their MEPs during an EP event [21]).
-----------------
OER and Copyright Reform for Education: Communia and Polish MEP Michal Boni
hosted a parliamentary breakfast on OER and copyright exceptions trying to
weave the “user rights” angle into the debate. [21]
-----------------
-----------------
[1]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6d07lh0nNGNaXFzUFBPaE0tY0E/view
[2]http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/marrakesh/
[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Commerce_Directive
[4]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enforcement_Directive
[5]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notice_and_take_down
[6][Old text]
http://www.iptegrity.com/index.php/ipred/723-e-commerce-directive-eu-commis…
[7]
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/consultation-review-eu-satellit…
[8]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_and_Cable_Directive
[9]
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/digital/meps-want-make-internet-companies-…
[10]
http://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-considers-major-investigation-into-role-of-i…
[11]
http://www.project-disco.org/competition/070915-the-digital-single-market-a…
[12]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Platforms_Consultation
[13]
http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2015/10/04/digital-single-market-eu-wide-consulta…
[14]http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/plenary/video?date=25-11-2015
[15]http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/jha/2015/11/20/
[16]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regulation
[17]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2F%2FEP%2F%2FTEXT%2B…
[18]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Big_Fat_Brussels_Meeting_-_Episod…
[19]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/536473/IPOL_IDA%2820…
[20]
http://www.eppgroup.eu/system/files_force/publications/2015/11/EPPPPC.pdf
[21]
http://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/events/sd-conference-digital-data-eu-h…
[22]
http://www.communia-association.org/2015/11/27/securing-user-rights-educati…