Works in public domain should remain in the public domain
Communia has published Guidelines for the implementation of the DSM Directive. Teresa Nobre, Paul Keller in Dimitar Dimitrov have prepared a Guide on Article 14, which regulates works of visual art in the public domain.
Pursuant to Article 14, Member States shall ensure that reproductions of public domain works of visual art cannot be protected by exclusive copyright, and as a result be removed out of the public domain. With Artice 14, DSM Directive seeks to achieve that anyone can freely use reproductions of public domain works of visual art without having to obtain explicit permission. The conditions for such free use are that the original work of visual art is already in the public domain and that the reproduction of the work is not itself an original work, protected by copyright.
It is recommended that Article 14 is implemented in the Member States where faithful reproductions are protected or where their legal status is inconclusive. On the contrary, the implementation of Article 14 is not necessary and is inadvisable in Member States, where faithful reproductions of copyrighted materials are not protected and are free to use.
For a detailed analysis, read the Guide on Article 14 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.