The EU Commission is working on proposals to reform copyright regulation to better suit the digital age. This might include rules on content portability.
A leaked document has revealed the EU Commission’s plans for copyright in 2016. Eleonora Rosati has posted a draft document, that is set for release sometime in December, on the IPKat website.
Called Towards a modern, more European copyright framework, the document tackles the issue of content portability in the spring, and suggests the Commission will explore a “follow-the-money” approach to enforcement, clarify rules for identifying infringers, and examine the crosss-border application of injunctions.
“EU copyright rules need to be adapted so that all market players and citizens can seize the opportunities of this new environment. A more European framework is needed to overcome fragmentation and frictions within a functioning single market,” according to the leaked draft.
The Commission is planning to accompany the final version of strategy with legislative proposals, that are expected to be published before the end of the year.
The proposals announced in the paper include one on “portability” of online content. “As a first step, the Commission is presenting together with this Communication a proposal for a regulation on the ‘portability’ of online content services, to ensure that users who have subscribed to or acquired content in their home country can access it when they are temporarily in another Member State.”
But in addition to making life easier for citizens, the Commission also wants to make life more difficult for pirates. Noting that creative rights have little value if they cannot be enforced, the Commission calls for a “balanced civil enforcement system” to enable copyright holders to fight infringement more cheaply and across borders.
“A ‘follow-the-money’ approach, which sees the involvement of different types of intermediary service providers, seems to be a particularly promising method that the Commission and Member States have started to apply in certain areas.”
However, this might take soem time before implementation: “As regards the legal framework for the enforcement of intellectual property rights, including copyright, the commission will assess options and consider the need to amend the legal framework by autumn 2016.”
