Council of Ministers approves compromise on copyright reform 24/02/2019 by Tom Hirche
On Wednesday, government representatives of the EU member states approved the compromise on the Copyright Directive in the Council of Ministers. The reform has thus taken another hurdle. But the big showdown is still to come. Read more
"Other nations should be wary of following the EU’s lead on this particular initiative." 23/11/2018 by Tom Hirche
The European Commission, Council and Parliament are still negotiating the exact wording of an ancillary copyright for press publishers that will most likely be part of the upcoming EU Directive on copyright. If you have not yet heard about this new right or only a little and if you want to learn more about it, then Pamela Samuelson, who is the Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law at Berkeley Law School, has just written the perfect article for you. Read more
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Voss still ignores criticism and does not move an inch 10/09/2018 by Tom Hirche
Although summer break has just ended, the next important vote at EU level is already coming up. Members of the European Parliament must agree on a common position on the proposed copyright reform. A key role here is played by MEP Axel Voss (EPP, Germany), rapporteur on the JURI Committee, who despite all criticism is unwilling to back away from his proposal. Read more
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Introduction of Ancillary Copyright for Press Publishers now a "Question of Life and Death" 31/08/2018 by Tom Hirche
Before the summer break in Brussels and Strasburg had officially ended, members of the European Parliament got hit by the latest lobbying campaign by press agencies and publishers. With blatant lies and twisted truths they once again called on MEPs to support the widely discussed ancillary copyright for press publishers. Supporting arguments based on actual facts are absent just like they have been in the past. Read more
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Svoboda on link tax: "I do not see any positive consequences for anyone" 07/08/2018 by Tom Hirche
In July 2017, the European People's Party (EPP) had adopted a joint position that fully endorses the Commission's plan for the introduction of an ancillary copyright for press publishers (link tax). But this has not changed the fact that party members are against this new right and actively try to prevent it. With MEP Svoboda, a very influential one has publicly renewed his criticism. Read more
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JURI has adopted link tax 20/06/2018 by Tom Hirche
Today at 10:48, the JURI Committee of the European Parliament has adopted the compromise amendment of rapporteur MEP Axel Voss (EPP, Germany) concerning article 11 with a 13:12 majority. All amendments calling for its deletion have thus been rejected. Now there is only the plenary of the European Parliament that has the power to overturn the plan of introducing an EU-wide ancillary copyright for press publishers. The fight for a free internet is not over!
Sascha Lobo: "Such a nonsense law" 19/06/2018 by redaktion
With the ancillary copyright, some publishers want to get a digital money printing machine from politicians – soon also at the EU level. How did we come to this? Read more
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Take a minute to #SaveYourInternet 12/06/2018 by Tom Hirche
In eight days, the Legal Affairs Committee will finally vote on its compromise amendment for the upcoming copyright directive. This will be followed by the whole plenum of the European Parliament voting on a common position. Your and everybody else's internet freedom is at stake. Act now, get in touch with your MEP and #SaveYourInternet. Read more
Over 100 MEPs sign an open letter against introduction of link tax 07/06/2018 by Tom Hirche
Today, a total of 104 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from across the political groups published an open letter addressing MEP Axel Voss (EPP, Germany) who is the lead Rapporteur on the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market for the Legal Affairs (JURI) Committee. Read more
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Voss's changes can not cure the rotten root 17/05/2018 by Tom Hirche
The rapporteur of the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) of the European Parliament, MEP Axel Voss (EPP, Germany) has updated his draft compromise amendment for Article 11, the ancillary copyright for press publishers, pushing for a vote next month. Although the proposed text is now less extreme compared to the first version from seven weeks ago, it fails to tackle the real problem. Read more
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JURI members try to water down results of their own requested study 08/12/2017 by Tom Hirche
A couple of months ago, the European Parliament’s directorate general for internal policies of the union had commissioned a study on the proposed new right for publishers. After the results were published last October, they were finally presented to members of the Legal Affairs Committee yesterday. What should have been an informing workshop turned out to be yet another opportunity for the right's supporters to shut down arguments with their lies and to cause confusion. Read more
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LIBE Committee remains silent on link tax 21/11/2017 by Tom Hirche
Today, the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has finally voted on its opinion on the Commission's proposal for a new copyright directive. While problematic provisions for mandatory content filtering have been tackled, the Committee did not take any stand when it came to the ancillary copyright for press publishers aka the link tax. Read more
ITRE deceives itself by attacking research and open access 21/07/2017 by Tom Hirche
Already three out of five EP Committees have voted on their opinion on the Commission's Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. So far it seems we are heading into a future where a European wide publisher's right will be present. One particular Committee even tries to directly attack open access publishing. Read more
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Two more EP Committies gang up against free linking 12/07/2017 by Tom Hirche
After the European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) voted on its opinion on the new Copyright Directive a month ago, it were the Committees for Culture and Education (CULT - opinion) and for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE - opinion) that both had their turns yesterday. The result: the suggestion of an even worse ancillary copyright for press publishers. Read more
Parliament's largest group to fully endorse Commission's proposal for a link tax 09/07/2017 by Tom Hirche
The European Commission's proposal for an ancillary copyright for press publishers has received a tremendous amount of criticism from many MEPs of all groups of the European Parliament. But now the largest group, the European People's Party (EPP), has adopted a joint position that fully supports the Commission's line while ignoring the European people's voices and all academic advice. Read more
Rogue members try to hijack LIBE Committee 14/06/2017 by Tom Hirche
Almost a month ago, in mid May 2017, the draft opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on the EU-Commission's proposal for a new copyright directive has officially been published. As things just turned out, some hardliners suddenly want to amend it so that it will be strongly in favour of an ancillary copyright for press publishers. Read more
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Official version of Comodini report published 20/03/2017 by Tom Hirche
Last Friday, the official version of MEP Therese Comodini Cachia's (EPP, Malta) draft of her report on the Commission's proposal for a directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM) was published. Comodini is the elected rapporteur of the leading committee for legal affairs (JURI). Although some minor changes have already been made compared to the version that was leaked a few days ago, the most important points have all been kept. The deadline for tabling amendments is March 30th. Read more
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MEPs sign Open Letter to Commission 18/12/2015 by Tom Hirche
- Günther Oettinger
- Julia Reda
- Andrus Ansip
- Vicky Ford
- Marietje Schaake
- Josef Weidenholzer
- Jean-Claude Juncker
A cross-party coalition formed by over 80 MEPs has written an Open Letter to President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, to European Commissioner for Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip as well as to European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Günther Oettinger. They are "deeply concerned about the Commission's Communication 'Towards a modern, more European copyright framework'". Read more
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Martin Schulz vs. Parliament 06/11/2015 by Tom Hirche
Martin Schulz (PES), President of the European Parliament and a trained bookseller, gave a Keynote at the Publishers' Summit this Monday in Berlin. It soon became clear that he disagrees with the majority of the Parliament in the matter of an ancillary copyright for press publishers. Read more
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Last-minute amendment to Reda report! 08/07/2015 by Tom Hirche
The ancillary copyright for press publishers might find its way into Julia Reda's report for a progressive copyright reform. A corresponding amendment was tabled in the last minute. Read more