Brussels, 15/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission will be postponing publication of its copyright package initially due for June 2016. It is planning to open a consultation on neighbouring rights and the 'panorama freedom' (see below), announced Commissioner Andrus Ansip at a high-level round table at the Lisbon Council on Monday 14 March.
The future copyright package will include proposals on: (1) cross-border access to digital content via revision of the cable and satellite directive (93/83/EEC); (2) exceptions to copyright, including a proposal to implement the Marrakesh Treaty; and (3) possibly proposals on remunerating authors. During his speech at a conference on media in the digital age, innovation and new business models, Commissioner Ansip explained that the package would not be submitted until September due to a public consultation on whether to create a new right for press editors and the freedom of panorama.
Freedom of panorama. The EU directive of 2001 on copyright in the information society foresees optional exceptions to copyright, including the 'freedom of panorama' which allows for the reproduction of a protected work installed in the public area. At present, most EU member states foresee this exemption to differing degrees. France is considering it. It does not apply in Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy or Greece. A European Parliament report by Julia Reda (Greens/EFA, Germany) is reported to have initially suggested making this exemption general, but the paragraph in question was simply removed from the final version as a result of the disagreements among political groupings on this subject. The Commission now wants the exception to be clarified “in order to take new broadcasting channels into consideration”.
Neighbouring rights. Neighbouring rights include rights granted by law to people or intermediaries who contribute or help in the manufacture of an original work available to the general public. At present, EU legislation grants such rights to interpretive artists, film or record producers and broadcasting bodies. The Commission is considering extending these rights to press editors. The consultation will cover the use of extracts from newspaper articles by online services such as news assemblers, for which they are often called ancillary rights. This practice, often known by the term 'Google tax,' already exists in Spain and Germany. The Spanish AEDE law (Asociación de Editores de Diarios Españoles) came into force on 1 January 2015 and requires content assemblers such as Google News or Yahoo News to automatically pay financial compensation each time they offer links to information websites. This has led to the closing of Google News (Google Noticias) in Spain. The German law came into force in August 2013 but, unlike the opt-in system in Spain, does not force press editors to demand compensation (opt-out).
The European Commission says that it has no plan to tax hyperlinks. A spokesperson for Commissioner Ansip said the Commission has no intention of asking people to pay copyright when they simply share a hyperlink to content protected by copyright. Europeans share and post hyperlinks every day and they should be free to continue to do so. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)