Barnier presents overhaul of intellectual property rights

Commission wants to rein in piracy, but expand access to cultural content for consumers.

The European Commission has published plans for wide-ranging reforms of the EU’s intellectual-property system.

The blueprint announced today (Tuesday) aims to make copyright licensing fit for the digital age and includes initiatives to improve enforcement against piracy.

Launching the intellectual property rights (IPR) strategy, Michel Barnier, the European commissioner for the internal market, said it was important to balance copyright protection with the need to allow consumers to access online content.

“Ensuring the right level of protection of intellectual property rights in the single market is essential for Europe’s economy. Progress depends on new ideas and new knowledge,” he said.

No investment without protection

Barnier added that there could be no investment in innovation in the EU unless rights were protected.

He recognised, however, that the balance needed to ensure that consumers have access to cultural content, for example online music, in order for new business models and cultural diversity to thrive.

“Our aim today is to get the balance between these two objectives right for IPR across the board,” Barnier said.

The strategy includes policy initiatives on patents, trademarks, copyright licensing, IPR enforcement (including illegal downloads), customs control, and orphan works (where books or articles are in copyright but the author cannot be traced).

Collective copyright management

The strategy signals a legislative proposal to simplify the collective management of copyright. It foresees the creation of a “clear and well-functioning legal framework for the multi-territorial licensing” of musical works online.

Common rules will be established for collecting societies, which license the rights of creators and collect and distribute royalties. They have been criticised in the past for a lack of transparency.

The strategy also says that “all options are on the table” regarding tackling illegal downloading.

The Commission’s work will not “focus on service providers who either infringe copyright themselves or who systematically and knowingly facilitate or sustain the piracy activities of others and profit there from”.
All service providers have to respect “an appropriate level of care in their commercial operations”, says the strategy.

Service providers have long argued that they should not be held responsible for ‘policing’ the internet, and are likely to lobby hard over the coming months.

All the initiatives outlined in the strategy are intended to be taken by the Commission by 2014.

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