Find here all 21 studies and position papers authored by members and friends of COMMUNIA. Our policy papers analyse the impact of current legislation or legislative proposals on the Public Domain and are published irregularly.
Background Users are losing the ability to own copies of copyrighted materials. Today, many materials are only published in digital rather than analogue formats to the point that it has become much more difficult, if not impossible, to obtain movies, music or scientific publications in analogue formats. At the same time, publishers no longer sell […]
Background The right of access to, and enjoyment of, culture is a fundamental principle that is enshrined in legal texts at national, EU and UN levels. Among others, this principle informs copyright legislation, notably by establishing the need for limitations to the scope of exclusive rights. In extension, it buttresses the special status of the […]
Background In a world where information is increasingly accessed digitally, library users expect and need access to e-books. However, libraries face significant barriers to transition their lending practices from analogue to digital.1 In recent years, it has become increasingly common for publishers and aggregators to limit access to e-books through libraries, by imposing highly restrictive […]
Background Individuals and organisations who frequently interact with copyright-protected material in a professional capacity are often overwhelmed when it comes to determining what they may or may not do. They may be forced to make complicated choices between potentially risking to infringe copyright or passing up on opportunities to create or preserve knowledge by not […]
The argument in brief Published research outputs often end up locked behind paywalls, unavailable to many researchers and the broader public, impeding scientific – and human – progress. Despite progress in the area of open science, research funded by the European public is no exception to this. In many cases, European taxpayers are essentially asked […]
Background Public sector documents and public speeches are of key concern to the public. New legislation and court decisions lay down the rules that govern our daily lives, and provide obligations and privileges to people who need to be aware of their presence in order to act upon them. Public documents produced by the executive […]
Background We have witnessed a proliferation of (so-called) generative artificial intelligence (AI) models since OpenAI made DALL-E 2 available to the public in July 2022. This has gone alongside a renewed interest in questions about the relationship between machine learning (ML) and copyright law — as evidenced by a surge in publications on the topic […]
May 20201 – (This policy paper is also available as a PDF file) COMMUNIA Policy Paper on fundamental rights as a limit to copyright during emergencies Exceptions and limitations to copyright should support education, research and other public interest activities that need to take place remotely during emergencies that fundamentally disrupt the normal organization of […]
January 2018 – (This policy paper is also available as a PDF file) COMMUNIA policy paper on the review of the PSI Directive In 2003 the Directive 2003/98/EC on the reuse of public sector information (2003 Directive) came into effect and obliged EU Member States to make information and resources that they produce and collect reusable to […]
August 2017 – (This policy paper is also available as a PDF file) COMMUNIA policy paper on the EU Database Directive This policy paper is released in the context of the European Commission’s public consultation on the application and impact of the Directive 96/9/EU on the legal protection of databases (Database Directive). The Directive aimed […]
