Tl;dr
Freedom of Panorama, ancillary copyright and text & data mining seem to be firmly on the agenda. The ePrivacy Directive might be revised, covering things such as location data, spam and cookies. The Commission is also testing the waters on intermediary liability. The options being re-opening IPRED, attempting some sort of non-binding recommendation or defining notice-and-action procedures.
This and past reports: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Monitor
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Consultation on Publishers Right and Freedom of Panorama: We have until 15 June to submit our responses. The FKAGEU answers are practically finalised.[1] We’re just wondering if Q4 isn’t a question addressed to the people who license their art/buildings only.
In parallel, for individuals, third parties and the general public there will be an answering guide at youcan.fixcopyright.eu. [2] It will go live tomorrow and I will make sure to make sure to poke you again, including on this mailing list. Keep in mind, that the results will be reviewed on a respondent category basis.Which means that we have to focus our mobilisation not only on the “consumer/end user/citizens” category but need to mobilise professional clubs & associations as well as painters and photographers. If Wikimedia movement groups decide to participate, they are invited to use the FKAGEU answers as examples, but please don’t just copy & paste, as identical sets will be collapsed in the final results.
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Freedom of Panorama: On one hand the questions asked are specific and well-ordered. On the other, they are asking for specific examples of problems we’ve had. Wikimedians and photographers should really make an effort to communicate their personalised experiences here. This has the potential to set us apart.
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Ancillary Copyright Publishers Right: This is a part of the consultation that is optional and is about proposing an ancillary-copyright-like law on the EU level. The FKAGEU will answer this part of the consultation, mostly in line with the answering guide on youcan.fixcopyright.eu. Individuals are welcome to do the same, but if you feel unsure about what you are being asked you may as well skip it.
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Text and Data Mining: The third subject that will almost surely be included in the Commission’s future copyright plans is a Text and Data Mining exception. There was an event in the European Parliament co-hosted by a Socialist and a Conservative MEP. [3] The general takeaways are that the EP imagines an exception for academics and research that should also somehow cover SMEs, while the Commission finds it challenging to square the circle between a more generous exception (which is desirable for SMEs) and a non-commercial one (which is politically easier to pass). During the discussion, most parties agreed that research regularly falls outside of the NC spectrum. A fresh new perspective was brought into the Brussels debate by Ada Homolova, [4] a data journalist supporting the case for a comprehensive exception in order to be able to do her job safely.
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ePrivacy Directive: It is not exactly clear where this is heading. A “better regulation” argument is being floated by stakeholders who would like to get rid of parts of the Directive. The logic is that since we have the General Data Protection Regulation, the ePrivacy Directive has become obsolete. However, it covers specific aspects not included in the the Regulation, such as location data, traffic information, spam and cookies. Some of these things are directly linked to online privacy, which we deeply care about. A consultation was recently open by European Commission. [5] The FKAGEU will participate [6] reflecting Wikimedia’s Public Policy position on privacy. [7]
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AVMS: A revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive [8] has been announced. I am expecting the legislative proposal to come in June or July. The policy options laid out in the review of the current text seem to point towards an attempt to somehow promote European content online (currently there are quotas for TV, radio, cinema). It would at least theoretically be possible to use the Directive to improve cross-border access to content. [9]
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Platforms leak: A leaked communication [10] proposes the creation of a European Innovation Council that helps EU based companies scale up their businesses. It also criticises that de facto competing services have to comply with different rules, which distorts the market (e.g. SMS services vs. Whatsapp messages, cable TV vs. YouTube).
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The definition of platforms still seems to be vary vague, saying something like “exclusive reliance on information technology” to “facilitate and extract value from direct interactions between groups of users”. Single-sided distributions (read Netflix) do not fall under the Commission’s definition of online platforms, while Google, Bing, Facebook, YouTube and eBay are even cited as examples of such.
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On a positive note, there seems to be talk of guaranteeing that users can take all their data with them if they decide to leave a platform. Also, the idea of “giving preference to the procurement of open service platforms by public authorities" is again being floated. An idea that has recently been on the loosing side. [11]
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Leaking a communication is a very “soft” way for Brussels bureaucrats to test the waters for future initiatives. The text appears to be assembled from several competing ideas and tactics. In Brussels it has been described as “a lot of fluff”. It is still unclear whether Wikipedia would be affected by such future initiatives. But there’s plenty of talk about liability, so we should remain vigilant. More info here: [12]
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[1]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/FoP_Consultation
[2]http://youcan.fixcopyright.eu/
[3]https://twitter.com/C_Stihler_MEP/status/725339912715776000
[4]https://twitter.com/naberacka
[7]https://policy.wikimedia.org/policy-landing/privacy/
[8]https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/audiovisual-media-services-directive-avmsd
[9]http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/roadmaps/docs/2015_cnect_006_cwp_review_avmsd_iia_en.pdf
[10]http://www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/04/2917_001-1.pdf
[12]http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2016/04/eu-online-platform-regulation-google-facebook/