In a new twist in the copyright tale, with the European Parliament getting ready to put the negotiating mandate of the committee on legal affairs to a vote, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) on Tuesday 3 July published an opinion on the impact of the reform on citizens' rights, an opinion that the various stakeholders have lost no time in using in defence of their arguments.
The opinion concerns only the measures recommended by the European Commission and the European Parliament's mandate to tackle the value gap (article 13). It states that these provisions “do not aim to mandate general surveillance of activities on the Internet”. However, it acknowledges that there is a risk that they will exacerbate the current situation of the “endemic monitoring of people on the Internet”, if the measures taken prove not to be “appropriate and proportionate”. As well as strict controls on the transposition of the measures by the member states and their application by platforms and stakeholders, the EDPS advises the co-legislator to “continue to reflect carefully” on likely practical consequences of the obligations created in article 13 (1), on the risk of interference with fundamental rights and of circumvention of safeguards, and on the potential for distorting competition in ways which will harm fundamental rights.
The opinion was immediately seized upon by those in favour of the mandate and those who oppose it. The former, among them Marc Jouland (EPP, France), stress that the directive does not call for generalised surveillance. The latter, who include the Director of the European Consumer Organisation, Monique Goyens, highlight the importance of not making hasty decisions and reassessing the measures.
European creations better protected. The draft directive brings in new exemptions to the copyright rules and sets out new provisions to ensure better protection of the European creations. On 20 June, the JURI committee supported the introduction, in article 13, of a requirement for "active" platforms to conclude licensing agreements with stakeholders before publishing protected content (see EUROPE 12045).
The opinion of the EDPS comes in response to a request by MEP Catherine Stihler (S&D, UK), rapporteur for the associated committee on the internal market (IMCO), who considers that the article 13 measures are incompatible with the e-commerce directive (2000/31/EC). The opinion can be consulted at: https://edps.europa.eu/node/4812. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)