COMMUNIA Association

Eurovision DSM Contest: the once in a decade copyright reform contest

June 10, 2021

by Teresa Nobre

This Monday, June 7, was the last official day for EU Member States to implement the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. To mark the date we launched the “Eurovision DSM contest” website. The website provides a playful overview of the implementation of the new Copyright Directive across the EU, and Member States […]

Echtpaar bij de dorpsrechtbank van Puiterveen

CJEU hearing in the Polish challenge to Article 17: Not even the supporters of the provision agree on how it should work

November 12, 2020

by Paul Keller

On Tuesday, November 10, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) heard case C-401/19. This case is a request by the Polish government to annul the filtering obligation contained in Article 17 of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM) Directive on the grounds that it will lead to censorship and will […]

De schout betaalt de boer zijn vergoeding, de weduwe van de baljuw treurt bij zijn doodskist

Spain: Publishers pay themselves in desperate effort to show that giving them extra rights actually has an effect

July 3, 2017

by Paul Keller

Two weeks ago the IMCO committee managed to give a new breath of life into the proposal for an ancillary copyright for press publishers that many observers (including us) had presumed to be more or less dead in the water. Following on the heels of this surprising development interesting information is emerging from Spain where […]

Spain’s El Pais newspaper comes out strongly against ancillary copyright madness

March 27, 2017

by Natalia Mileszyk

One might think that the debate on the ancillary copyright for press publishers is over – both JURI Rapporteur MEP Therese Comodini Cachia and IMCO Rapporteur Catherine Stihler rejected the Commission’s proposal to provide publishers with a competitive advantage by using copyright legislation. Unfortunately, even with such progressive voices, the misconceptions about the ancillary copyright were […]

Research confirms: new Spanish ancillary copyright is actually good for no one

September 9, 2015

by Paul Keller

It is generally accepted wisdom that if you do not want something to be noticed you can best announce it on a Friday afternoon. Presenting a study right before the start of the summer holidays is a variation of this. Seen in this light, it is a bit unfortunate that the Spanish Association of Publishers […]

Did Spain just declare war on the commons?

August 6, 2014

by Paul Keller

Two weeks ago the lower chamber of the Spanish parliament approved a number of changes to Spain’s Intellectual Property Law that directly threaten the ability of Spanish internet users to contribute to the commons. The law introduces a number of modifications to copyright law that expand the scope of exclusive rights over areas that were […]