This is a Directive. That’s important because it doesn’t just get implemented as is. All the EU member states now need to adopt laws to implement the directive. It’s early to say how it’s going to pan out.
Recorded at Frankfurt Book Fair 2019
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In March 2019, the European Parliament approved the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single. The first draft of the legislation that became the directive was released in September 2016. Three years later, it remains for EU member states to pass national legislation that meets the directive’s requirements, as Elizabeth Crossick, Head of Government Affairs, EU, in the Brussels office of RELX Group, recently explained for a Frankfurt Book Fair audience.
“As so often in these cases, the (European) Commission comes up with something that is pretty pragmatic and tries to find a middle ground. Then you get the parliament attacking it, I suppose. We had a big push from what we would call the ‘copyleft, [calling for] the breaking down and dismemberment of copyright as and where possible, with member states being a little more pragmatic and recognizing the value of copyright. I think where we’ve ended up is in a sensible place,” said Crossick.
“But this is a Directive,” she told CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “That’s important to note because it doesn’t just get implemented as is. All the EU member states now need to adopt laws to implement the directive. It’s early to say how it’s going to pan out, but for the moment, I think we’re in a good place.
Also appearing in the panel discussion were Carlo Scollo Lavizzari, a Basel-based lawyer who specializes in intellectual property protection, and Mark Seeley, who consults on science publishing and legal issues through SciPubLaw LLC and who retired in January 2018 from his position as Senior Vice President & General Counsel for Elsevier.
