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20 January 2015Copyright

MEP proposes EU copyright shake-up

A member of the European Parliament (MEP) has claimed EU copyright laws are not fit for purpose and has proposed sweeping reforms including a harmonised European system.

Julia Reda, MEP for the Pirate Party in Germany, said EU rules are blocking the cross-border exchange of “knowledge and culture”.

Reda has recommended the harmonisation of copyright terms and exceptions across Europe. She has proposed extending exceptions to or limitations on the use of copyrighted material available offline to online content.

The MEP’s findings are included in a draft report based on the EU’s 2001 Directive (2001/29/EC), which discusses copyright in the “information society”.

Last November, Reda, appointed as rapporteur for the committee of legal affairs, was tasked by the European Parliament to produce a report based on the 2001 directive and to outline what needed to change. She released the first draft of the report on January 14.

Reda said: “The EU copyright directive was written in 2001, in a time before YouTube or Facebook. Although it was meant to adapt copyright to the digital age, in reality it is blocking the exchange of knowledge and culture across borders today.

“We need European copyright that respects fundamental rights and makes it easier to offer innovative online services in the entire EU,” she said.

The report also requests that internet users are allowed to freely link from one resource to another and that new copyright exceptions be granted for research and educational purposes that not only cover educational establishments, but also non-formal education.

Loz Kaye, leader of the Pirate Party, said: “We are taking the first steps to really free up information. It’s clear that as a movement we are making an impact. The more support we gain, the further we can go towards the more radical reform we need.”

The final report will be voted on in April by the committee of legal affairs and then the entire parliament the following month.

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