About the Directive on the podcast of Radio Maribor
Luka Novak from the Slovenian Organization of Authors and Publishers for Reproduction Rights – SAZOR and Domen Savič from the institute Državljan D confronted their views on the Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market, while dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič, IPI, spoke about the text and data mining and educational exception.
Novak, who is one of the most ardent supporters of the Directive in Slovenia, explained that it is the first attempt of opening and harmonizing copyright law after 18 years and that it tries to preserve the balance between protecting copyrighted works and ensuring society free access to knowledge. The attempt is not optimal, however, it would, in principle, bring improvements. Savič, who is critical towards the Directive, said that as any first attempt to regulate a certain problematic subject matter, regulating copyrights on the internet was kidnapped by a certain industries – in this case the industry of right holders on one and content intermediaries on the other side, while leaving the general public excluded.
The majority of Slovenian MEPs voted against the Directive, while three were against. Franc Bogovič, who supported the Directive, gave a statement for the podcast, in which he explained that we need to protect the European digital environment from American corporations. Igor Šoltest, who voted against the Directive, because he thinks it still needs a lot of improvement, highlighted the problem of transforming the internet into a space of censorship, which nobody wants.
A conversation with dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič, who advised the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport in the process of adopting the Directive, was also included in the podcast. She presented the exceptions, which are important for education, namely the text and data mining and the educational exception. The former sets the rules how artificial intelligence will be created in the EU. This exception is more than welcome and good news for researchers, however, it does not establish the same level of legal certainty for companies who will most likely seek more secure business environments outside the EU. The latter, the exception for education, has been long-awaited in the educational sector for quite some time, but has not been made mandatory for Member States, which is contrary to the aim of harmonizing copyright law in this field. Another problem is the narrowness of the exception as it only applies to educational institutions and does not take into account the fact that education can also be carried out in libraries, galleries and museums. It is important for the educational system in Slovenia not to subject this exception to remuneration.
To listen the whole podcast (in Slovene) here.
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.
The 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR/43) is being held in Geneva from March 13 to 17, 2023. The Intellectual Property Institute has a permanent observer status at WIPO since 2022 and is also a member of the Access to Knowledge Coalition (A2K coalition).