The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee will, indeed, vote on the copyright directive in the afternoon of 20 June, Axel Voss (EPP, Germany), who is responsible for this file, stated after yet another meeting of shadow rapporteurs on 7 June.
According to Julia Reda (Greens/EFA, Germany), Voss announced that the compromise – the eighth version – on Article 13 (value gap) would be the last. She also said that the rapporteur hopes to receive majority support among MEPs (EPP, ALDE, ECR and ENF) on the committee.
A further meeting of shadow rapporteurs is scheduled for 11 June to discuss the rights of press publishers (Article 11) and fair remuneration (Article 14a). Voss’s proposal on this last Article requires member states to set out clearly the specific needs of each sector with a view to determining whether or not remuneration is “appropriate” and authorises them put in place collective agreements of similar joint remuneration agreements. Unlike the first version published before the meeting, the compromise text no longer makes reference to rights and rights holders not mentioned in the directive (see EUROPE 12034).
The draft directive, presented in September 2016, introduces new exceptions to copyright rules and puts in place new provisions to improve protection for protected works. Member state ambassadors to the EU agreed the Council’s negotiating position on 25 May (see EUROPE 12029). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)