European Commission’s consultation paper on Article 17
European Commission has finally published the consultation document on stakeholders’ dialogue regarding the implementation of Article 17 of the Directive (EU) 2019/790 on Copyright and Related Rights on Digital Single Market. The document sums up the stakeholders’ main concerns and sets forth the initial views of the European Commission with the aim to finalise the Commission guidance on Article 17 implementation.
The new Article 17 DSM Directive is one of the most controversial ones, because it introduces a new liability regime for the online content-sharing service providers (online platforms) for the content uploaded by their users. With this, Article 17 invites content overblocking by way of using non-sophisticated filters, which can lead to unjustified infringements of users’ freedom of expression.
In order to discover the best possible way to implement Article 17, the European Commission held six stakeholders dialogues between October 2019 and February 2020, where rightsholders, online platforms, users, consumers, and fundamental rights organisations presented their views.
Now, the Commission has gathered all the stakeholders’ opinions, published them alongside with its own insight, and invited the participants to submit their written views on the document by 10 September 2020. The received feedback will then serve as basis for the Commission’s guide on the best possible implementation of Article 17 DSM Directive.
You can read more about the consultation document here.
It is also interesting to keep an eye on the CJEU Joined YouTube and Cyando Cases (C-682/18 in C-683/18), with AG Øe recently issuing his Opinion on the matter, which could provide answers to the very questions raised by the new Article 17 of the DSM Directive.
On January 5, 2022, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (MGRT), together with the Intellectual Property Office (URSIL), organized an online consultation. Representatives of URSIL and MGRT first presented to the interested professional public the planned substantive changes to the main solutions of the amended Proposal on Amendments to the Copyright and Related Rights Act (ZASP-I) and the amended Proposal on Amendments to the Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights Act (ZKUASP-A). Many participants argued that the competent drafter did not provide the interested parties with the amended draft proposals before the discussion, but instead provided all the registered participants only with a meager slide presentation, which was misleading in some places.
On December 10th, 2021, at 8.00, at the OERcamp.global 2021, which is a 48-hour conference with practitioners, activists, scientists, nOERds and novices from around the globe, the pre-recorded session of Remote education during the pandemic, Teacher’s perspective will be played. After the played recording, dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič, LL.M., LL.M., Anahita Rezaei (Centrum Cyfrowe) and Teresa Nobre (Communia) will be available to answer the questions. Welcome!
On December 9th, 2021, Career Centers at University of Ljubljana are organizing an online event “Copyright law and Copyrights”, where dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič, LL.M., LL.M will lecture. The lecture will relate to the topic of copyright law and copyrights, and will first guide listeners through the history of copyright, through the philosophical justification of copyright to the current regulation of copyright in Slovenia. Welcome to join us!
On 23rd of November, 2021, the European Commission has published two reports in the field of copyright, as required by Directives 2014/26/EU (CRM Directive) and 2019/790 (DSM Directive). They are supported by two studies: Study on emerging issues on collective licensing management in the digital environment, and Study on selected issues relating to the application of the CRM Directive.