Copyright law should not limit the right to repair, which is crucial for sustainability and user empowerment. Individuals should fully own the devices and digital content they buy and have the freedom to modify them. Europe needs a mandatory exception to copyright and other exclusive rights that allows the modification of devices for purposes of repairing them, as well as the sharing of repair information such as instruction manuals or blueprints.
Earlier today, the European Parliament voted in favour of the Directive on common rules promoting the repair of goods. With this Directive, the EU aims to increase the level of consumer and environmental protection by encouraging consumers to repair defective products instead of replacing them. To that end, the proposal takes a number of important […]
Products have never lasted forever. Over recent years, however, the average lifetime of products seems to consistently decrease. From fast fashion which typically lasts a single season to electronic devices which swiftly become obsolete as soon as a new iteration or update is released. This development is particularly worrying regarding modern technological devices such as […]
In just five years, the amount of e-waste has increased by 21 percent. Only a fraction is recycled. Europe is at the top of this sad statistic, according to the Global E-Waste Monitor 2020. One of the most common reasons for devices to end up in the trash is broken batteries. More and more often, […]
