Brussels, 09/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 9 July, the European Parliament won a strong majority (445 votes for, 65 against, with 32 abstentions) in favour of the non-legislative resolution by Julia Reda (Greens/EFA, Germany) on copyright reform. The final version was strongly watered-down compared to what was initially proposed by the Pirate Party MEP, who is a strong advocate of freedom of access to digital content.
The rapporteur, Julia Reda, welcomed the consensus obtained at the end of lengthy debates between MEPs. She said that “the report is a great step forward, but also a missed opportunity”.
MEPs decided to withdraw the very controversial amendment restricting full panorama freedom (the possibility of reproducing a photograph in the public space, see below) adopted by the Legal Affairs Committee. They also supported the notion of content portability, in an effort to put a stop to current geo-blocking.
The European framework for copyright in force dates back to 2001 and is undoubtedly in need of digital era reform, no MEP contested this. The European Commission planned to present its proposals by the end of 2015. In the resolution adopted this Thursday, the EP puts down the foundations, which it believes will guide the Commission in its reform. Günther Oettinger, the commissioner for the digital economy, said “a balance between users and authors is required… This is not easy but it is our aim… We will take into account your report”.
Improving cross-border access. Users are too often refused access to certain services linked to content for geographical reasons (“geo-blocking”), explained the European Parliament. Cultural minorities living in member states must be able to access content in their languages. MEPs emphasise, on the other hand, the importance of maintaining territorial licences, particularly for the cinematographic industry so that cultural diversity can be maintained. They believe that there is no contradiction between territoriality and the portability principle of content protected by copyright. This opinion is shared by Commissioner Oettinger, who spoke during the debate preceding the vote. The Commissioner stressed “If the territoriality principle disappears, film will not be able to survive” and pointed out that national subsidies helped underpin the sector. He also asserted that “we will put forward proposals that allow for portability whilst working on our proposal on territoriality”. He added that sport was another area where the principle of territoriality is important and cannot be “discarded overnight”.
Adapting existing provisions to the digital era. Parliament is recommending the revision of existing exemptions to copyright legislation in an effort to adapt them to the digital era and in this connection is examining ways of applying minimum standards. The Commission is also expected to analyse, for example, the possibility of introducing an exception that would allow libraries to lend creative works in a digital format and to proceed to “mine texts and data”. Commissioner Oettinger indicated: “If we want to take scientific research seriously, we need free access to content in the digital world”. The European Parliament indicated that these exceptions should not be allowed to undermine the right to fair and appropriate remuneration for all categories of rights ownership, particularly with regard to the digital distribution of creative works. They also seek to improve the contractual position of authors, artists or performers in relation to other rights holders and intermediaries.
Amendment to restrict the freedom of panorama is rejected. The freedom of panorama is a copyright exemption that authorises anyone to draw, photograph or film buildings and works of art located in the public space and to publish these images without having to request authorisation from their respective authors. MEPs rejected the amendment adopted at the Legal Affairs Committee stipulating that taking and publishing these images or designs would always be subject to the prior authorisation from the authors in question. Taking a “selfie” in front of the Eiffel Tower and publishing it on Facebook could have been considered illegal everywhere in the European Union. Incidentally, this amendment adopted at the JURI Committee, to the great consternation of Julia Reda MEP, was widely published on social networks and was discussed at length by the media. More than 500,000 Europeans signed a petition to warn MEPs preparing to vote on the text during the plenary about the potential threat the text posed to journalists and photographers. This amendment also monopolised the debate preceding the vote. The MEPs proceeded cautiously and decided to opt for the current situation by rejecting this amendment. Member states currently have the right to decide what they want to do on this question but few of them have introduced restrictions to the freedom of panorama. The Commissioner, however, somewhat regretted the “marketing” of the debate on the specific points in the report and added that “the Commission does not want to limit the freedom of panorama because citizens should be able to photograph what they see”. (Isabelle Lamberty)