In anticipation of the EU Commission’s copyright reform proposal (and just in time for the confirmation that the Commission’s plans will be everything but forward-looking), our friends at Mozilla have launched a new copyright reform campaign. They are taking this step because “it’s time our laws caught up with our technology.” The campaign focusses on issues which […]

We happily invite you to the event Copyright Reform: Unlocking copyright for users? that will take place on September 8 in Brussels. The event is hosted by MEP Therese Comodini Cachia and MEP Carlos Zorrinho, and co-organised by COMMUNIA and EDRi. Join us to discuss key aspects of the current EU copyright reform including the freedom […]

Last January, COMMUNIA invited creators to share thoughts about their relationship with the public domain. They spoke at the Public Domain Day 2016 event we organised in the European Parliament, hosted by MEP Felix Reda. We learned from their experiences that copyright can be perceived as a hurdle for creators, that sharing your work into […]

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 […]

Last week’s Communication from the Commission did not explicitly state that they plan to introduce ancillary copyright in Europe, but it was very easy to read between the lines. Research in Spain has shown (and again in Germany) that ancillary copyright is good for no-one, so the echoes from the Commission about considering the introduction […]

COMMUNIA has opened a new line of communication: copyright untangled where we discuss copyright and education. The aim of the series is to provide context on the state of play on copyright and education in the EU, while keeping it understandable for people who are not very familiar with copyright law, the legislative process or the […]

This post was written by Lisette Kalshoven and Katarzyna Rybicka. Fifteen years ago, the explosive growth of the file sharing network Napster changed the music industry forever. It was a simple response to the difficulty of finding, downloading and sharing music over the web. Since then, policy makers and stakeholders have been trying to resolve […]

BEUC, The European Consumer Organisation, has released an interesting fact sheet pertaining to confusion and uncertainty in consumer use of copyrighted materials. BEUC surveyed relevant stakeholders about the current copyright reform debates in the EU. These stakeholders ranged from collecting societies to academics and government ministries, and the conclusions drawn from their answers are both […]

Today a new website was launched in the amp up to the vote on the Report on the Implementation of the InfoSoc Directive and its amendments on June 16 in the European Parliament’s legal affairs (JURI) Committee. The website aims to mobilise internet users to help save copyright reform at European level, in face of […]