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1. The
Institute for Information Law
The Institute for
Information Law (established in 1987) is part of the
University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law. The Institute is
the largest research facility in the field of information
law in Europe. The Institute employs over 20 qualified
researchers who actively study and report on a wide range
of subjects within the domain of information law. The
activities of the Institute include:
- research and promotion of research in the field of
information law;
- mediation and undertaking of research projects
commissioned by third parties, carried out by the
Institute staff members or by free-lance researchers;
- training of research assistants;
- practical training (post-graduate courses, professional
training, seminars);
- maintenance of a specialised Documentation Centre and
data base for research and legal practice in the field of
information law.
The
Institute co-operates with other departments of the
University of Amsterdam, such as the Europa Institute and
the Department of Communications Studies. Moreover, the
Institute collaborates with researchers from the Delft
University of Technology, the Seminary for Media Law of
the State University of Gent, the Centre de Recherches
Informatique et Droit (crid) in Namur (Belgium), the
Norwegian Research Centre for Computers and Law (nrccl)
and other institutes. Individual members of the Institute
maintain world-wide contacts with researchers in their own
specialised fields.
Since its
inception the Institute for Information Law has organised
three highly successful international conferences: Copyright
in information (1989), Information Law towards the
21st Century (1991), and The Future of Copyright in
a Digital Environment (1995). The proceedings were
published in the Information Law Series, mentioned below.
Since
1994 the Institute is an official partner of the European
Audiovisual Observatory in Strasbourg (http://www.obs.coe.int).
Operating within the framework of the Council of Europe,
the Observatory acts as an information and reference
centre for professionals in the audiovisual industry
throughout Europe. As a partner of the Observatory the
Institute collects materials and data on important current
issues of audiovisual law, provides input for its monthly
law review iris and collaborates with the
Observatory in various other ways.
Since
February 1997 the Institute is the official legal partner
of the imprimatur Consortium. The imprimatur acronym
spells out: Intellectual Multimedia Property Rights Model
And Terminology for Universal Reference. The project,
which was launched by the European Commission (DG III) in
the Esprit framework, aims at developing a prototype and
business model of an electronic copyright management
system (ECMS), and building consensus among various
interested parties. Under the supervision of Professor
Hugenholtz the Institute has been studying various
relevant legal issues of ECMS's, resulting in five
published reports, an international symposium and a
handful of workshops.
2.
Working Programme
The
Institute’s working programme concentrates on the
following main themes of research:
Theoretics of
Information Law
This
theme focuses on the development of information law into a
separate field of law. In this context the relation to
other fields of law and to other disciplines is analysed;
new definitions and concepts are conceived. Problems of
comparative and international law and the relationship
between technology and law are also studied in order to
provide a conceptual framework for the study of problems
in the other fields of research.
Freedom of
Expression and Media Law
This
theme comprises the constitutional foundations of the
freedom of expression and information (freedom of
expression, freedom of establishment and freedom to
provide services) and the restrictions imposed thereon in
relation to traditional and modern media. In addition, the
rights of information receivers and the obligations of the
authorities in this respect, as well as the position of
social institutions in this field, are studied. Topics of
research include: regulation of public and commercial
broadcasting, concentration and competition in the print
industry, theatrical freedoms, liberalisation of the cable
industry and the impact of European law.
Intellectual
Property
The
different methods of protecting information as a property
right under private law (intellectual property,
competition law, law of contracts, technological measures)
and public law (secrecy, telecommunications law) are
studied. Special consideration is given to the relation
between property rights in information and the freedom of
expression and information. Topics of research include:
copyright protection of ideas and works of fact, patent
protection of non-technical inventions, the future of
intellectual property in the digital networked
environment, etc.
Advertising and
Consumer Information
This
theme covers various legal problems caused by manipulative
forms of mass communication for commercial and
non-commercial purposes (publicity, public relations,
propaganda, information supply, labelling, surreptitious
advertising, sponsoring, etc.). Topics of research
include: advertising and freedom of expression,
self-regulation of advertising, trans-border advertising,
food labelling, and editorial freedoms.
Telecommunications
Law
This
theme comprises a wide array of legal problems relating to
the organisation, control and exploitation of
telecommunications infrastructures and services. Topics of
interest include: convergence and divergence,
liberalisation and re-regulation, regulation of cable
networks, standardisation, frequency management, aspects
of European law, etc.
Privacy and Data
Protection
In this
context the legal protection of private life (the right to
privacy) and especially the protection of personal data in
the public and private sectors are studied. Main topics
are: governmental policies regarding information systems,
commercialisation of personal data, and self-regulation.
Access to
Government Information
This
theme focuses on the legal problems relating to the use
and supply of information held by public authorities.
Topics include: freedom of information, commercial use of
government data, public private partnerships, propaganda,
etc.
Current
Developments in Information Law
In
addition to research carried out in the context of the
eight main themes of research, current developments in
information law are systematically analysed and commented
upon.
3.
Organisation and staff
The
Institute is managed by the Institute Board of Directors.
Board members are:
Prof. Egbert J. Dommering (Professor of Information Law
and Director of the Institute)
Prof. P. Bernt Hugenholtz
Prof. Jan J.C. Kabel 19
Prof. Gerard A.I. Schuijt 20
Dr. Nico A.N.M. van Eijk.
In
1998 the research fellows of the Institute were:
Lodewijk Asscher
Marina Benassi
Marjolijn Bulk
Patrick Burger
Madeleine de Cock Buning
Marcel Dellebeke
Mireille van Eechoud
Lucie Guibault
Jaap Haeck
Natali Helberger
Ido Hurkmans
Wouter Hins
Fred Kistenkas
Kamiel Koelman
Annemique de Kroon
Gerard Mom
Aernout Nieuwenhuis
Bernardine Trompenaars
Maartje Verberne
Barbara Vroom-Cramer
Babiche Westerbrink
Louisa Wissink
Documentation
Centre:
Cees de Blaaij (Head of Documentation Centre)
Rosanne van der Waal
Institute
Secretariat:
Anja Dobbelsteen
Helga Tappenbeck
4.
Publications
The
Institute for Information Law was established in 1987.
Since then its staff members have published numerous
publications that are listed in its annual reports.
Under the
editorial responsibility of the Institute for Information
Law, Kluwer Law International publishes the Information
Law Series. Professors Dommering and Hugenholtz are
joint editors-in-chief. In 1998 a new volume was added to
the series: Jan J.C. Kabel & Gerard J.H.M. Mom (eds.) Intellectual
Property and Information Law. Essays in Honour of Herman
Cohen Jehoram, The Hague/London/Boston: Kluwer Law
International 1998, 350 p.
Other
volumes previously published in the series are:
*
Dommering, Egbert J. & P. Bernt Hugenholtz (eds.),
Protecting Works of Fact. Copyright, Freedom of
Expression and Information Law, Deventer/Boston:
Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers, 1991, 110 p.
*
Korthals Altes W.F., Dommering E.J., Hugenholtz P.B. and
Kabel J.J.C. (eds.), Information Law towards the 21st
Century, Deventer/Boston: Kluwer Law and Taxation
Publishers, 1992, 393 p.
*
Seignette, Jacqueline M.B., Challenges to the Creator
Doctrine. Authorship, Copyright Ownership and the
Exploitation of Creative Works in The Netherlands,
Germany and The United States, Deventer/Boston:
Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers, 1994, 200 p.
*
Hugenholtz, P. Bernt (ed.), The Future of Copyright
in a Digital Environment, proceedings of the Royal
Academy Colloquium, The Hague/London/Boston: Kluwer Law
International, 1996, 248 p.
*
Pinckaers, Julius C.S., From Privacy Toward a New
Intellectual Property Right in Persona. The Right of
Publicity (United States) and Portrait Law (Netherlands)
Balanced with Freedom of Speech and Free Trade
Principles, The Hague/London/Boston: Kluwer Law
International, 1996, 490 p.
Selected
publications in 1998
The
following is a selection of the most important
publications by the Institute or its staff members in
1998. For bibliographical details please refer to the
listings in the Dutch language section of this annual
report.
The
Institute's involvement in the imprimatur project
generated five studies in 1998, Privacy, Data
Protection and Copyright: Their Interaction in the Context
of Electronic Copyright Management Systems (by Kamiel
Koelman and Lee Bygrave), Formation and validity
of on-line contracts (by Bernardine Trompenaars), The
Law and Practice of Digital Encryption (by Daniel
Gervais), Protection of Technological Measures (by
Kamiel Koelman and Natali Helberger) and Protection of
Copyright Management Information (by Annemique de
Kroon). The imprimatur reports are available both online (http://www.imprimatur.net/legal.htm)
and offline. Hard copies may be ordered from the Institute
for Information Law. Four studies were the subject of
special workshops, so-called Legal SIG meetings, which
were held at the Institute on 14 March, 23 May and 10
October respectively. Representatives of interested
parties (right holders, intermediaries, users) and
academic experts from all over the world participated. The
studies served as input to the 4th imprimatur Consensus
Forum, an international consensus-seeking symposium which
was organised by the Institute in co-operation with ALCS
in London on 2-3 July.
No fewer
than four doctoral studies (dissertations) were completed
and published in the course of 1998. Jaap Haeck
scrutinised the copyright protection of ideas, with
special focus on the protection of television programme
formats. According to Haeck, only well-elaborated ideas
will qualify for copyright protection. Madeleine de Cock
Buning analysed the impact of information technology on
copyright law. In her book she presents
convincing arguments for technology-neutral rulemaking.
Barbara Vroom-Cramer’s dissertation contains a detailed
overview of existing regulation of information on food
stuffs. Her book presents a complex picture of often
highly specialised rulemaking, much of which is produced
by the European legislature. Marjolein Bulk’s thesis
concerns the so-called right of rectification, as it
exists under Dutch civil law. In her book Bulk describes
the right of rectification in the light of the freedom of
expression protected, inter alia, by the European
Convention on Human Rights. Other dissertations (on
electromagnetic spectrum auctioning, copyright contracts
and exemptions, conflicts of law in copyright and the
protection of technological measures) are underway.
A liber
amicorum in honour of Professor Cohen Jehoram was
published in the Information Law Series, including
contributions by professors Alexander (exhaustion in
intellectual property law), Dommering (addresses in
cyberspace), Hugenholtz (implementing the Database
Directive), De Meij (copyright v. freedom of expression in
Sweden) and Schuijt (information law).
Professor
Dommering published articles on ‘The Dutch System of
Financing of Public Broadcasting’ and on ‘Advertising
and Sponsorship Law – Problems of Regulating Partly
Liberalised Markets’. An important essay on the freedom
of expression and the secrecy of communications was
published in a volume commemorating the 150th anniversary
of the Dutch Constitution.
Dr. Van
Eijk analysed the legal issues involving the alphanumeric
use of service numbers in a report commissioned by the
Dutch Ministry of Traffic and Waterworks. Mireille van
Eechoud and Jan Kabel jointly published a major study on
the price of government information. Jaap Haeck concluded
a study on the protection of geographical information in
Europe’s micro-states, commissioned by EUROGI.
Lucie
Guibault produced an elaborate discussion paper on
copyright limitations in the digital era for the Council
of Europe. Natali Helberger wrote an article on
jurisdiction over broadcasting activities in the light of
the revised Television Directive. Kamiel Koelman and
Babiche Westerbrink produced a study on Copyright
Aspects of the Preservation of Electronic Publications,
commissioned by the National Library of the Netherlands
(Koninklijke Bibliotheek).
Bernt
Hugenholtz delivered a study on copyright and the
Internet, which was discussed by the Nederlandse
Juristenvereniging (Dutch Society of Lawyers) at its
annual meeting on June 12, 1998. He also published several
articles on the implementation of the Database Directive.
Fred
Kistenkas completed a comparative study of libel law under
English, German and Dutch law. The proceedings of the
Institute’s tenth anniversary symposium on ‘Copyright
and the University’ were published in the final days of
1998.
5.
Educational activities
Each
year, the Institute provides a bouquet of five optional,
trimestrial courses to students of the Law Faculty of the
University of Amsterdam: information law, copyright,
industrial property, and European intellectual property
and competition law. In 1998 nearly 260 students
participated in these courses; more than 60 students wrote
their doctoral theses under the supervision of Institute
staff. In addition, Institute staff collectively offered a
popular course on media law to students of communications
studies.
With the
financial aid of the national programme on information
technology and the law ITeR, the Institute
continued its multidisciplinary course on
telecommunication law. Selected students from various
backgrounds (law, technology, economics, communications
studies) participated. Patrick Burger organised the course
and prepared a syllabus. In addition, the Institute
organised a number of so-called post-academic courses.
6.
Other important activities in 1998
On 9
October 1998 Professor Herman Cohen Jehoram delivered his
farewell lecture, an (as always critical) account of the
law and politics of parallel imports. As a professor of
copyright law, Professor Cohen Jehoram was succeeded on
August 1, 1998 by Bernt Hugenholtz.
Each
year, the Institute organises a series of bimonthly
invitation-only guest lectures. In 1998 lecturers included
Professor Ysolde Gendreau (University of Montreal), who
spoke on recent amendments to the Canadian Copyright Act,
and Professor Mireille Buydens (University of
Louvain-La-Neuve) who discussed recent developments in
Belgian law in the light of the ongoing proliferation of
copyright.
Through
different personal unions, the Institute for Information
Law is involved in the editing and publication of two
leading legal reviews: Informatierecht/AMI (on
copyright, media and information law) and Mediaforum
(on media and telecommunications policy and law).
Institute staff also regularly contribute to IRIS,
the monthly newsletter of the European Audiovisual
Observatory. In 1998 Bernt Hugenholtz represented the
Institute in the IRIS editorial board. Annemique de
Kroon edited and contributed a large number of articles.
Institute
staff members serve on various international boards and
committees in the field of information law. Professor
Cohen Jehoram is vice-chairman of the international
copyright society ALAI and member of the Copyright Experts
Group of the European Commission, DG XV. He is also a
member of the Board and Scientific Council of the Max
Planck Institute in Munich. Professor Hugenholtz is
chairman of the Intellectual Property Task Force and
member of the Legal Advisory Board (LAB) of the European
Commission, DG XIII.
Professor
Hugenholtz was an invited speaker at numerous
international conferences, including the annual Fordham
Conference in New York. Professor Dommering spoke on the
allocation of domain names and telephone numbers at the
3rd European Forum on the Law of Telecommunications,
organised by the European Lawyers’ Union in Luxembourg.
Professor Kabel delivered the Rapport de synthèse on the
Green Paper on Commercial Communications at the Brussels
meeting of the Ligue International du Droit de la
Concurence. Lucie Guibault was an invited speaker at the
conference on Intellectual Property and Contract Law in
the Information Age, organised by UC Berkeley, and
rapporteur-general at the ALAI Study Days in Cambridge.
7.
Documentation Centre
The
Institute maintains a sophisticated and well-equipped Documentation
Centre, which has been set up with generous funding by
the Dutch Ministry of Education. The Documentation Centre
specialises in (often hard-to-find) international
periodicals in the field of information law, and
unpublished reports. The Centre also operates an
electronic data base containing bibliographic information
on publications in the domain of information law. The data
base is now available online and free of charge at the
Institute web site (http://www.ivir.nl).
In addition, the Documentation Centre publishes a current
awareness periodical, which is distributed among the
Institute staff and subscribers.
19) Professor of Media
Law, University of Utrecht
20) Professor of press,
Broadcasting and Telecommunications Law, University of
Leiden.
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