Keyword: Auteursrecht
EU Copyright Law and the Cloud: VCAST and the Intersection of Private Copying and Communication to the Public external link
Abstract
This article examines the applicability of the private copying exception to cloud services against the backdrop of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the Opinion of Advocate General (AG) Szpunar in Case C-265/16, VCAST.
The case raises the question of whether the exception protects services of an online platform allowing users to store copies of free-to-air TV programmes in private cloud storage spaces. The AG’s proposed answer was to consider that cloud copying could generally be covered by the exception, but the specific service of VCAST could not. The CJEU focused on VCAST’s service only, largely following AG Szpunar’s conclusion.
The article explains and discusses both the Opinion and the Judgment, further addressing the possible implications of the case for the “leviability” of cloud-based services and the interface between the private copying exception and the right of communication to the public.
cloud, communication to the public, Copyright, frontpage, Infosoc Directive, private copying, VCAST
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Bibtex
Rethinking Normal Exploitation: Enabling Online Limitations in EU Copyright Law external link
Abstract
The adoption of limitations to copyright is regulated at international and EU level by the three-step test. The major obstacle to new limitations for online use is a strict interpretation of the test, namely its second step, according to which a limitation shall not conflict with the normal exploitation of works. This article examines the test with a focus on the second step and its application to the digital and crossborder environment. It argues for a flexible and policy-oriented reading of the concept of normal exploitation. Following this approach could enable the introduction of new online limitations in EU law. In particular, within the context of current EU copyright reform, a flexible interpretation could support the introduction of a mandatory and unwaivable limitation for user-generated content.
Copyright, EU, exploitation, frontpage, limitations
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Bibtex
Copyright, Doctrine and Evidence-Based Reform external link
Abstract
Copyright lawmaking is conventionally embedded in a doctrinal tradition that gives much consideration to coherence and formal consistency with legal-theoretical foundations. This contrasts discernibly with the recent trend to base copyright policies and their elaboration into effective legal norms on empirical evidence. Recognizing that both approaches have their relative strengths and weaknesses, this paper explores how evidence-based policy can be reconciled with the traditional doctrinal approach to copyright lawmaking. It suggests that unproven doctrinal constellations that unnecessarily focus the legislative intention unequally on protecting copyright holders should be removed, but that lawmakers at the same time should also not stare blindly on economic evidence if legitimate claims based on fairness rationales are put forward, which also have to be weighed in as evidence.
Copyright, doctrinal underpinnings, economic evidence, evidence-based policy, frontpage, lawmaking approaches, reform
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Bibtex
Who owns the broadcasting archives? Unravelling copyright ownership of broadcast content external link
Abstract
Archives across the Netherlands are tasked to make their archives accessible online. However, progress has been slow, not least because it is difficult to determine who owns the rights to make works available online. Focusing on the Dutch public service radio and TV broadcasting sectors, this book addresses this challenge. First, it disentangles the nature of broadcasts by providing guidance on which aspects of a TV or radio broadcast can attract protection and who owns these. Secondly, it empirically establishes that the default ownership rules can only provide an incomplete picture of the rights ownership in the public service broadcasting sector: the ownership is more concentrated than copyright and neighbouring rights law suggests.
Who owns the broadcasting archives? shows how different legal scenarios can explain this rights concentration and establishes their likely practical influence on industry practice in the public service broadcasting sector across time.
Auteursrecht, broadcasting, Copyright, copyright ownership, quantitative methods
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Is Harmonization a Good Thing? The Case of the Copyright Acquis external link
AG Szpunar on VCAST: Copyright and the Cloud external link
Abstract
On 7 September 2017, AG Szpunar delivered his opinion on Case C-265/16, VCAST. The case concerns the question of whether the private copying exception covers the services of an online platform that allows users to store copies of free-to-air TV programmes in private cloud storage spaces. AG Szpunar’s proposed answer was a mixed one: while cloud copying, in general, should be considered covered by the exception, the specific service offered by VCAST should not.
Case notes, Copyright, frontpage, online platform, private copying exception
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Bibtex
The proposed publishers’ right in press publications: an evidential mistake external link
Literature review on the use of licensing in library context, and the limitations this creates to access to knowledge external link
Abstract
The dual purpose of this literature review is, first, to identify and summarise limitations that result from the use of copyright licences in a library context, and, second, to illustrate these limitations with specific examples available in both the
academic and grey literature. The licences discussed in the reviewed literature deal essentially with access to, and use of, digital content.
access to knowledge, Copyright, frontpage, libraries, Licensing
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Bibtex
Estimating displacement rates of copyrighted content in the EU external link
Abstract
The extent to which digital consumption of pirated materials displaces legitimate purchases is of fundamental importance for EU copyright policy design. The European Commission has commissioned Ecorys to carry out a study on the relation between online copyright infringement (digital piracy) and sales of copyrighted content.
This study adds to the existing literature in at least three ways. Firstly, it compares piracy rates in multiple EU Member States calculated according to the same methodology. This makes it possible to compare results between countries. Secondly, displacement rates are estimated in the presence of an important recent phenomenon, i.e. the widespread availability of a wide variety of services for downloading or streaming content. Thirdly, the study includes minors to assess the extent of piracy among this group.
Links
Auteursrecht, Copyright, copyright policy, frontpage, online content, Online copright enforcement, online infringement, Online media