European publishers against European AC  07/12/2015 by Tom Hirche

Several Open Letters have reached the EU Commissioners while they conduct their public consultation on the role of online platforms. The most recent originates from a group of various European publishers who speak out against an ancillary copyright for press publishers.

They share their concerns regarding a European ancillary copyright for press publishers and point to its “adverse effects”. Such a right would be harmful “for citizen’s access to news and information”. But above all, the signatories fear that the “deeply destructive impact [of such initiatives] on news publishing is being passed under silence.”

In their eyes, a new ancillary copyright would not help them and they “are troubled to hear [exactly] that”. It would make everything harder: to reach their/new audiences, to be present/discovered/accessed online, to share links, to grow, to develop new sources of information, to innovate. They mention the situation in Spain where they are “deprived of control over our own content” as they cannot “disseminate our news without payment”.

The “free flow of information across Europe and fundamental rights to information” should be defended by the European Union, they say. An ancillary copyright would be a step in the wrong direction.
 

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