Barnier dreams of copyright consensus by 2013
- Author: Monica Horten
- Published: 18 March 2012
European Commissioner Michel Barnier is to send a new copyright law to the European Parliament next month. The law is aimed at regulating the music collecting societies. It will be followed in September by a proposal on enforcement. The timetable was revealed by Barnier's deputy chef de cabinet, Kerstin Jorna, at a conference organised by the German collecting society, GEMA. What is curious is the Commission's optimism about getting these two initiatives adopted by sometime next year.
Details of the conference discussion - called 'Lost Property, the future of collective rights management in the European Union'' - have just emerged. It was held by GEMA at the Midem music fest in January. Ms Jorna, a career civil servant and newcomer to the Internet copyright debate, was on the panel, along with collecting society stalwarts from not only GEMA, but STIM in Sweden.
The new law to be presented in April will deal with the business management functions of the collecting societies. It will impose obligations on them to in respect of audit trails and reporting. The aim is to improve their efficiency. From what can be gathered, it sounds ass though the Commission wants to create a more competitive market-place too. This is something which the collecting societies have been resisting for years, and the provisions will require careful analysis.
Such a law should perform a much needed function to ease the way for new online music business models. However, it is not clear how the Commission proposes to handle multi-territory rights and whether there will be any real improvement from the viewpoint of online businesses which want to sell or stream music.
It was also revealed that the Commission is linking the new law for collecting societies to the IPR enforcement directive (IPRED). Speaking about the collecting society proposal, Ms Jorna said "we hope a consensus will emerge towards 2013", adding that "the same applies to the text on enforcement [...] of course, there are links between the two files".
This is dangerous territory for the Commission, as such linkage could give the rights-holders an unfair leverage over the outcome.
It should not be forgotten that Commissioner Barnier is French and has been consistently pushing the copyright agenda desired by President Sarkozy.
In any event, the effectiveness of the collecting society measures will be determined not only by what the Commission drafts, but by the changes that could be slipped in as it passes through the European Parliament. To say the Commission is being optimistic is an understatement - dreaming might be a better word.
You may re-publish my article under a Creative Commons licence, but you should cite my name and provide a link back to iptegrity.com. Media and Academics - please cite as Monica Horten, Barnier dreams of copyright consensus by 2013 www.iptegrity.com 19 March 2012 . Commercial users - please contact me.
- Article Views: 15883
IPtegrity politics
- Shadow bans: EU law says users may not be left in the dark
- EU at loggerheads over chat control
- Why the Online Safety Act is not fit for purpose
- Fixing the human rights failings in the Online Safety Act
- Whatever happened to the AI Bill?
- Hidden effects of the UK Online Safety Act
- EU puts chat control on back burner
- Why did X lock my account for not providing my birthday?
- Creation of deep fakes to be criminal offence under new law
- AI and tech: Asks for the new government
- How WhatsApp holds structural power
- Meta rolls out encryption as political headwinds ease
- EU law set for new course on child online safety
- Online Safety Act: Ofcom’s 1700-pages of tech platform rules
- MEPs reach political agreement to protect children and privacy
- Online Safety - a non-consensual Act
- Not a blank cheque: European Parliament consents to EU-UK Agreement
About Iptegrity
Iptegrity.com is the website of Dr Monica Horten, independent policy advisor: online safety, technology and human rights. Advocating to protect the rights of the majority of law abiding citizens online. Independent expert on the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on online safety and empowerment of content creators and users. Published author, and post-doctoral scholar, with a PhD from the University of Westminster, and a DipM from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Former telecoms journalist, experienced panelist and Chair, cited in the media eg BBC, iNews, Times, Guardian and Politico.
Politics & copyright
A Copyright Masquerade: How Corporate Lobbying Threatens Online Freedoms
'timely and provocative' Entertainment Law Review
Online Safety
- Shadow bans: EU law says users may not be left in the dark
- Why the Online Safety Act is not fit for purpose
- Fixing the human rights failings in the Online Safety Act
- Hidden effects of the UK Online Safety Act
- Why did X lock my account for not providing my birthday?
- Online Safety Act: Ofcom’s 1700-pages of tech platform rules
- Online Safety - a non-consensual Act
- Online Safety Bill passes as US court blocks age-checks law
- Online Safety Bill: ray of hope for free speech
- National Crime Agency to run new small boats social media centre
- Online Safety Bill: does government want to snoop on your WhatsApps?
- What is content of democratic importance?
- Online Safety Bill: One rule for them and another for us
- Online Safety Bill - Freedom to interfere?
- Copyright-style website blocking orders slipped into Online Safety Bill