An earlier version of this paper was awarded the 1st Prize in the 2017 ATRIP Essay Competition.

This article examines the online right of communication to the public under EUlaw and its interpretation by the Court of Justice of the EU. The focus of the analysis is on the controversial application of the right to hyperlinking, and its implications for the online activities of users and intermediaries. After outlining the international and EU legal framework on the right of communication to the public, the article advances a conceptual framework for the interpretation of the exclusive right in the online environment, which is both based on, and attempts to bring coherence to, the Court's complex case law. On this basis, the article then explores and critically assesses the main areas of legal uncertainty for the online application of the right and the normative considerations at stake—especially fundamental rights and the promotion of technological development—offering interpretative and legislative solutions for their resolution. The article argues for abandoning the legislative proposals for a new right for press publishers and the so-called value gap, as both are fundamentally flawed. Instead, reform should focus on redefining the right of communication to the public and preserving safe harbors, especially for hosting providers.

Rapport met Technopolis Group over beschermingsmechanismen op het gebied van intellectueel eigendom met betrekking tot medicijnen.

Opinie 14 juni 2018

Opinie

Collective management organizations (CMOs) are, first and foremost, copyright and related rights licensing bodies managing vast sums of money. That does not, however, define the entire scope of their activities. For example, the 2014 EU Directive on collective management notes that CMOS "play, and should continue to play, an important role as promoters of the diversity of cultural expression". This article explains and evaluates the cultural functions that CMOs play.

In this article, we discuss mHealth apps and their potential to influence the user’s behaviour in increasingly persuasive ways. More specifically, we call attention to the fact that mHealth apps often seek to not only influence the health behaviour of users but also their economic behaviour by merging health and commercial content in ways that are hard to detect. We argue that (1) such merging of health and commercial content raises specific questions concerning the autonomy of mHealth app users, and (2) consumer law offers a promising legal lens to address questions concerning user protection in this context. Based on an empirically informed ethical analysis of autonomy, we develop a fine-grained framework that incorporates three different requirements for autonomy that we call “independence,” “authenticity,” and “options.” This framework also differentiates between three different stages of mHealth app use, namely installing, starting to use, and continuing to use an app. As a result, user autonomy can be analysed in a nuanced and precise manner. Since the concept of autonomy plays a prominent, yet poorly understood role in unfair commercial practice law, we utilize the ethical analysis of autonomy to guide our legal analysis of the proper application of unfair commercial practice law in the mHealth app domain.

Opinie in Het Parool, 17 mei 2018.

Alle opwinding over de nieuwe Europese privacyregels komt volgens Nico van Eijk neer op stemmingmakerij. Op 25 mei ziet hij bar weinig veranderen.

Opinie in De Volkskrant, 14 mei 2018.

Chapter in: Shadow Libraries: Access to Knowledge in Global Higher Education / J. Karaganis (ed.), The MIT Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2018. ISBN: 9780262535014.

Chapter in: Shadow Libraries: Access to Knowledge in Global Higher Education / J. Karaganis (ed.), The MIT Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2018. ISBN: 9780262535014.

IRIS Themes, Vol. III, 4th edition, Strasbourg: European Audiovisual Observatory, 2017 ISBN: 9789287184351 (print version).

This e-book provides valuable insights into the European Court of Human Rights’ extensive case-law on freedom of expression and media and journalistic freedoms. With well over 30,000 downloads, the first three editions of the e-book (2013, 2015 and 2016) have proved hugely successful. The new fourth edition summarises over 270 judgments or decisions by the Court and provides hyperlinks to the full text of each of the summarised judgments or decisions (via HUDOC, the Court's online case-law database). For an optimal navigational experience, one should download the e-book and read the technical tips on p. 3.

In: Copyright Reconstructed: Rethinking Copyright's Economic Rights in a Time of Highly Dynamic Technological and Economic Change, P.B. Hugenholtz (ed.), Information Law Series, vol. 41, Alphen aan den Rijn: Wolters Kluwer 2018, ISBN: 978-90-411-9103-8.

This article provides a more differentiated understanding of mobile health consumers, and considers whether health app use may contribute to new digital inequalities. It focuses on factors associated with mobile health app use, and identifies which factors explain the use of different types of health apps. Data from a large representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 1,079) show that mobile health app users were generally younger, higher educated, and had higher levels of e-health literacy skills than non-users. Interestingly, different usage patterns were found for specific types of health apps. Theory and policy implications are discussed.

Buitengerechtelijke ontbinding van muziekuitgave-overeenkomsten wegens tekortschieten door uitgever in exploitatieverplichting: klachtplicht (art. 6:89 BW) geldt niet bij voortdurend tekortschieten. Muziekuitgavecontracten zijn duurovereenkomsten voor onbepaalde tijd die in beginsel kunnen worden opgezegd, maar daarvoor moeten blijkens art. 25(e) Aw zwaarwegende gronden bestaan.

Vordering tegen de Gemeente Amsterdam tot plaatsing op de afgesproken locatie op de groenstrook langs de Theophile de Bockstraat in Amsterdam-Zuid door de maker Femke Schaap van het kunstwerk ‘Westland Wells’, ondanks hardnekkig verzet door de buurtbewoners tegen die plaatsing. Het hof is niet gebonden aan de belangenafweging die heeft geleid tot verlening van een omgevingsvergunning voor plaatsing op de afgesproken locatie. De gemeente is op grond van de overeenkomst van opdracht niet verplicht om het kunstwerk te plaatsen op de oorspronkelijk overeengekomen locatie, maar, gezien de strekking van de overeenkomst, wel tot plaatsing elders. De auteursrechtelijke grondslag ter onderbouwing van vordering is nu de contractuele grondslag is toegewezen niet meer van belang.

In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides comprehensive rules for the processing of personal data. In addition, the EU lawmaker intends to adopt specific rules to protect confidentiality of communications, in a separate ePrivacy Regulation. Some have argued that there is no need for such additional rules for communications confidentiality. This paper discusses the protection of the right to confidentiality of communications in Europe. We look at the right’s origins as a fundamental right to assess the rationale for protecting the right. We also analyse how the right is currently protected under the European Convention on Human Rights and under EU law. We show that the right to communications confidentiality protects three values: trust in communication services, privacy, and freedom of expression. The right aims to ensure that individuals and businesses can safely entrust communication to service providers. Initially, the right protected only postal letters, but it has gradually developed into a strong safeguard for the protection of confidentiality of communications, regardless of the technology used. Hence, the right does not merely serve individual privacy interests, but also other interests that are crucial for the functioning of our information society. We conclude that separate EU rules to protect communications confidentiality, next to the GDPR, are justified and necessary to protect trust, privacy and freedom and expression.