The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU will try to reach agreement in principle on Friday 25 May on reform of copyright at the meeting of member states’ representatives to the EU (COREPER).
It hopes that to be able to overcome the differences in opinion on neighbouring rights for press editors (Article 11) and the value gap (Article 13), which caused a breakdown in the negotiations at the end of April (see EUROPE 12011).
The draft directive unveiled in September 2016 introduces new exemptions to the copyright rules and lays down new measures to better protect copyrighted works.
The vote at the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee is expected to take place on 20 or 21 June (see EUROPE 11999).
The last draft compromise unveiled by the Bulgarian Presidency, dated 17 May, covers all articles, amending Articles11 and 13.
Neighbouring rights. On the first question, the new text keeps the idea of a neighbouring right for press editors that would apply for a year. It suggests, however, criteria of originality and scale: in recital 34a, it suggests that scant use of press publications should not be covered by this directive.
The text recommends that in order to determine ‘non-substantial’ use of content, it should be determined whether the quoted sections express author’s intellectual creation or whether, due to their limited size, they affect the economic investment made by publication editors, or using both criteria.
The new compromise includes a Czech proposal of not applying the directive retroactively to parts of texts published before the future rules come into force.
Value gap. On the second question, the Bulgarian compromise keeps the idea of forcing platforms which have not been given authorisation by the copyright holder to take effective and proportionate measures to prevent protected works from being made available and to take action to withdraw notified works.
The text stipulates that the platforms concerned are those that give access to a ‘large number’ of protected works with the aim of making ‘profit’ ‘directly or indirectly’ by organising and promoting this content in order to acquire a greater audience. This provision excludes electronic communication services.
In addition, the new text introduces a softer regime for micro and small companies, which would only be required to rapidly withdraw unauthorised works (Recital 38e). The wording on cooperation between platforms and copyright holders has been strengthened to ensure the measures work properly.
The European Parliament rapporteur, Axel Voss (EPP, Germany), explains that neighbouring rights would not apply to private, non-commercial use of publications by individuals. He has amended the scope of application for the value gap as well (see EUROPE 12021).
The Bulgarian compromise can be found at: https://bit.ly/2IH5VW1 . (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)