We spend a lot of effort pointing out that additional copyright, like rights for specific groups of rights holders, are a problematic concept that has potential to cause a lot of damage to the Public Domain. Most of our coverage has focused on efforts to establish an ancillary copyright for press publishers. We have seen […]
The European Commission is currently holding a consultation on the 2004 directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the online environment (the so called IPRED directive). As the name suggests, this directive deals with the enforcement of copyright – including issues such as injunctions against internet service providers, internet blocking, and warning letters […]
While at this stage almost everyone agrees that the EU’s 2001 Copyright Framework is outdated and needs to be reformed, there is a very broad spectrum of ideas of what such a reform should look like. Recently, two of the three EU legislative bodies (who will need to agree on the final outcome) have laid […]
On Monday the 25th of January COMMUNIA organized a Public Domain Day celebration at the European Parliament. The event, which focussed on showcasing creators who have chosen to donate their output to the public domain, was hosted by MEP Felix Reda. The following creators participated in the event and shared their experiences as input at […]
We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of the law, and addressing what’s at stake, and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity and innovation. COMMUNIA […]
Communia has published a policy paper on the topic of leveraging copyright in support of education. We contend that exceptions and limitations to copyright for education should support broad access and re-use of copyrighted content of all types in a variety of education settings and across borders. The best way to achieve the proper balance […]
Recently, everybody has been busy discussing the question of whether the Diary of Anne Frank will enter (or by now, has entered) the public domain on January 1st this year (Answer: It’s complicated). Surprisingly, the discussions surrounding the copyright in Anne Frank’s writings may shed some light on another contentious copyright policy issue: text and […]
At the end of the last year COMMUNIA submitted its response to the European Commission’s public consultation on online platforms. While we have not hidden the fact that this particular consultation is deeply flawed in its approach (see here, here and here), we have nevertheless chosen to submit answers to some of the question raised […]
This post was written by Agnieszka Vetulani-Cegiel. The European Commission is willing to cooperate with interested parties (i.e. civil society, interest groups, stakeholders, other entities). The open attitude of the Commission is demonstrated by the inclusion of these parties in the policy-making process, and in work on legal mechanisms. This situation is beneficial to both sides. […]
Join us on January 25th in the European Parliament to celebrate Public Domain Day. This day falls on the first day of the new year and marks the term of copyright protection on creative works. This new state for cultural works means that they are now free to be reused for new cultural, commercial, educational […]
