Why Article 11 of the Directive is not a good solution
For all of us who were curious about the outcomes of a possible new ancillary copyright for press publishers, we need look no further.
As it happens, Germany adopted a “model scale” of the new right in 2013 aimed specifically against web search engines, granting press publishers with an exclusive right to make the press product or parts thereof available to the public for commercial purposes, unless the use consists of individual words or very short text excerpts. Sounds familiar? The EU is about to introduce the same right in Article 11 of the new DSM Directive. Without some major adjustments to the provision that might not be such a good idea, considering the effect the right has had in Germany – even though the court is leaning to rule in favour of the collecting society VG Media, who is suing Google for remuneration based on the new right, Google will not go down without a fight, threatening press publishers with de-listing them, if they would not grant free usage rights to Google. This behaviour has earned Google a separate lawsuit for abuse of a dominant position, which was rejected by Landgericht Berlin denying any abuse by Google, the case is currently pending before the Court of Appeal in Berlin.
The entire conundrum just goes to show, that imposing a link-tax on news aggregators, might result in big news market players getting away without repercussions, and smaller press content providers getting stuck with the bill. Even scientific studies show, why the new ancillary right might not be a good solution.
Also, info for any member state wishing to adopt similar provisions on a national level: AG Hogan recently delivered an opinion that such provisions must be notified to the Commission beforehand.
The 4th Open Knowledge Day took place on Tuesday 17 October 2023, with an accompanying workshop on 18 October 2023. This year it was organised by the Open Data and Intellectual Property Institute (ODIPI) and supported by Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21).
We invite you to the fourth Open Knowledge Day and the workshop, which will take place this year within the framework of the programme and with the support of Knowledge Rights 21. The event will bring together experts from different European countries to discuss two topics: the first part will deal with the legal basis for data analytics, which is a key part of machine learning and related artificial intelligence, and the general exception for research. In the second part, open science in theory and practice will be presented both in Slovenia and in some Western Balkan countries. Representatives of research and educational institutions from Slovenia and the Western Balkan countries, as well as interested members of the public, are invited to attend.
Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič, a renowned expert in copyright law, has joined the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where she will serve as an affiliate researcher for the next two years.
On Friday, October 6, 2023, the online seminar “Practical Experiences in Resolving Copyrights of Modern Book Works” took place. The seminar addressed relevant questions concerning user access to literary works in digital form.