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EBU: European Parliament’s copyright report should address full scope of licensing remedies for online content

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RedaPirate Party MEP Julia Reda (pictured, right) has issued a draft report aiming to find solutions to adapt the EU’s copyright regime to the digital age and increase cross-border cultural exchange via the Internet. Presented today (20 January) in the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, the report focuses on the implementation of the Information Society Directive.

For the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the report as published today only addresses one part of the EU copyright jigsaw, missing a number of existing potential solutions in EU and EU member state legislation which would facilitate the availability of legal offers of online content.

EBU Head of European Affairs Nicola Frank said: “The extended collective licensing schemes in exercise in certain EU member states offer the necessary flexibility for broadcasters to make their content available online and the necessary safeguards for right holders to be adequately remunerated and control the exploitation of their works. As for the country-of-origin system, it has enabled satellite operators to offer bouquets including hundreds of channels from various countries on a multi-territorial basis.”

The EBU believes the opportunity should not be missed to propose technologically neutral measures which can effectively remove restrictions to the circulation of online media content. The principles of the 1993 Cable and Satellite Directive and the extended collective licensing regimes present in some EU member states’ national copyright regimes offer genuine solutions to facilitate the licensing of online rights for creating a truly digital single market.

The report on the implementation of Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society, drafted by MEP Julia Reda, will be discussed again on 23 February alongside amendments proposed by the Legal Affairs Committee. The report will in turn feed into the European Commission’s copyright reform plans to be issued later in the year.

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