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.
The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that maintains the Open Library, a digital library index, and is dedicated to preserving knowledge. As many of the works in the Internet Archive are under copyright, the Archive uses a system of controlled digital lending based on digital rights management to prevent unauthorized downloading or copying of copyrighted books. In March 2020, due to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet Archive established the National Emergency Library, eliminating the waiting lists used in the Open Library and expanding access to books for all readers. In June 2020, the Emergency National Library faced a lawsuit from four book publishers and was ultimately closed.
The 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (hereinafter SCCR) made substantial progress on the issues advocated by the A2K Coalition (Access to Knowledge Coalition), which IPI is a member of. This year’s session was the most productive on the issues of exceptions and limitations. James Love (Knowledge Ecology International), a long-time observer at WIPO, described the outcome and the impact of the public interest community as the strongest since the conclusion of the Marrakech Treaty, which brought global copyright exceptions for the benefit of the blind and visually impaired.
Today, March 17, 2023, a symposium on law in the information society is taking place in the golden lecture hall of the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič will present copyright aspects of artificial intelligence at the symposium.
The third day of the 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is intended for discussion on the topic of exceptions and limitations to copyright, especially in connection with the right to research.