World Intellectual Property Day

The World Intellectual Property Day is promoted every year by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in order to encourage discussion on the importance of the role that Intellectual Property plays in encouraging innovation and creativity.

New rules on copyright for the digital single market

This year has been a very important year for copyright in the digital single market as the new rules have been approved by the European Parliament. It will now be up to Member States to approve Parliament's decision.

The agreement supported by the Parliament must still be formally approved by the EU Council of Ministers. It will enter into force two years after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

What is the copyright directive?

The proposal for a "directive on copyright in the digital single market" aims to ensure that creatives (eg musicians and actors), publishers and journalists derive the same benefits from the online world and the Internet as they do from the offline world. Currently, due to outdated rules on copyright, it is online platforms and news aggregators that gain all the benefits, while artists, publishers and journalists watch the free circulation of their work and, in the best of cases, they receive low remuneration. This makes it very difficult for artists and media professionals to make a decent living.

In short

• Internet platforms will be incentivized to pay artists and journalists
• Some materials, such as memes or GIFs, can be shared freely
• Links to current articles, accompanied by "single words or very short extracts" can be freely shared
• Journalists will receive a share of revenue related to copyright obtained from their publishing house
• Start-up platforms will be subject to lighter obligations
• The directive will not impose filters
  

The speaker Axel Voss (EPP, DE) said: "This agreement is an important step to correct a situation that has allowed few companies to earn large sums of money without adequately remunerating the thousands of creatives and journalists on whom they depend.
At the same time, the agreement contains numerous provisions to ensure that the Internet remains an area of ​​free expression. These provisions were not in themselves necessary, because the directive will not create new rights for holders. However, we listened to the concerns raised and chose to guarantee freedom of expression doubly. The "memes", the "gifs", the "snippets" are now more protected than ever.
I am also pleased that the text agreed today protects in particular start-up companies. Tomorrow's leading companies are today's start-ups and the diversity depends on a deep pool of young, innovative and dynamic companies.
It is an agreement that protects people's lives, safeguards democracy by defending a diversified media landscape, strengthens freedom of expression and encourages the creation of new businesses and technological development. It helps to make the Internet ready for the future, a space for the benefit of all, not just a few powerful ones ".

For more info and updates: http://www.europarl.europa.eu