rental and lending of originals and copies of copyright works

work excluded from copyright protection | work excluded from protection | unprotected work

copyrighted work [ copyright work | protected material | protected work ]

broadcast protected by copyright | protected broadcast

Licence for the reprographic reproduction of published works subject to copyright

Swiss Authors' Rights Cooperative for Audiovisual Works [ SUISSIMAGE ]

22. Stresses that copyright is an important economic basis for creativity, employment and innovation, as well as the guarantor of cultural diversity, and that it is essential to enable Europe’s creative and cultural industries to compete on a global scale; stresses that further efforts are needed in the field of copyright to strike a balance between all key actors, and that any revision of copyright law should ensure adequate protection that fosters investment and growth in the creative and cultural sector, whilst removing legal uncertainties and inconsistencies that adversely affect the functioning of the Digital Single Market (DSM); urges the Commission to review, where necessary, the regulatory framework for copyright in order to achie ...[+++]ve a better access to creative content for European citizens, and to stimulate European researchers, educational establishments, cultural heritage institutions and the creative sector to adapt their activities to the digital world; underlines that appropriate remuneration must be paid by those who profit from the exploitation of copyright-protected works, and that any solutions in this regard should not discourage the use of legal providers; recalls that digital technologies have redefined the value chain in the cultural sector, mostly to the benefit of intermediaries and often to the detriment of creators; asks the Commission to investigate the extent and impact of such changes and to propose measures to improve the remuneration of authors and artists at European level; stresses that any revised provisions should be future-proof and technologically neutral, evidence based and carefully assessed in line with the Commission’s objective of better regulation, while taking into account the differences between the digital and analogical environments;

To this end, the bill institutes new rights, such as the distribution right to control the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials; the making available right for performers and producers of sound recordings, who would enjoy an exclusive right to offer copyrighted material over the Internet; and moral rights for performers to ensure, for example, that a work is not altered in a way that harms an artist's reputation.

Fines might be reduced from a maximum of $20,000 per copyrighted work to a one-time maximum penalty of $5,000 in situations in which copyrighted works have been illegally accessed for non-commercial purposes, but there are a lot of ways this can be interpreted.

Fair compensation should hence not cover damages caused by reproductions of copyrighted works other than those falling under the legal exception, such as unauthorised reproductions of copyrighted works (i.e. piracy), or reproductions that have been explicitly authorised by the copyright-holder.