Last week, COMMUNIA joined IFLA, LIBER and SPARC Europe for a meeting with Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, to discuss the upcoming European Research Area (ERA) Act. During this constructive exchange, we highlighted two priorities: an EU-wide secondary publication right to make publicly funded research openly available, and a general scientific research […]
The European Commission concluded a call for evidence on its AI Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Sectors. Last week, COMMUNIA submitted its response (full text available as a PDF), highlighting two priorities: enabling the development of public-interest AI and safeguarding the public information ecosystem on which AI systems depend. The strategy complements the Commission’s […]
In June, the organisers of the European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Destroying Videogames” presented their proposal to the European Parliament and the European Commission. Although most Members of the European Parliament and Commission representatives voiced support during the public hearing, a subsequent Commission statement raises doubt about whether it intends to tackle the root cause of […]
Today, we are publishing a new report (available as a PDF file) on the experiences of cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) using the out-of-commerce works (OOCW) mechanism established under Article 8 of the Directive on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive). In April 2026, COMMUNIA convened an online discussion with seven […]
Last year, Denmark introduced amendments to its Copyright Act granting copyright-like protection to individuals’ personal characteristics and digital imitations of performances. As we argued during the public consultation, while the objective of this initiative—to protect individuals and performing artists against AI-generated deepfakes—is commendable, copyright is not the appropriate legal framework to address these concerns. In […]
The plenary vote to adopt the own-initiative (INI) report initiated by Axel Voss brings to a close a process that began in June 2025. While many aspects of the report improved during the committee stage and the text itself does not have immediate legal consequences, the overall outcome remains disappointing. The report is still incoherent […]
Today, we are publishing our 2025 annual report (available as a PDF file) that covers COMMUNIA’s activities between January 1, 2025 to November 30, 2025. This corresponds to the third reporting period for our structural grant from Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. The 2025 reporting period marks a consolidation phase […]
The European Commission is expected to present its proposal for a European Research Area (ERA) Act later this year. In anticipation, the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) has adopted a motion for a resolution, accompanied by a set of questions to the Commission, setting out key priorities for the upcoming instrument. […]
Today, the JURI Committee adopted Axel Voss’s own-initiative report on copyright and generative AI. The Committee also endorsed all compromise amendments, some of which reflect concerns raised by COMMUNIA and other stakeholders. However, even with these changes, the report still contains ambiguities and problematic language that risk creating legal uncertainty, particularly for researchers and developers […]
MEP Axel Voss’s own-initiative report on copyright and generative AI will be put to a vote in the JURI Committee on 28 January. Although framed as a response to legitimate questions around AI and copyright, the proposal suffers from serious shortcomings, most notably its disregard for the existing legal framework. Despite some more constructive compromise […]
