The purpose of the CEPS’s Task Force on Copyright in the Digital Single Market is to develop a dialogue among stakeholders, EU institutions, consumer representatives, Internet advocacy groups and academics on the future of copyright in the EU Digital Single Market and in a fully globalised economy. CEPS’s Digital Forum could not accomplish its mission if the current definition, function and impact of copyright enforcement and licensing practices on the creation of an economically sustainable and highly diversified market for digital content within the Digital Single Market were not examined and debated openly by all relevant actors. We believe that the recent debate on ACTA’s “digital chapter” was too un-nuanced and polarised to place EU lawmakers in a position to fairly reflect on the protection of creativity and innovation, which is a key element for Europe’s economic growth in a globalised economy.
In light of the existing challenges in the online content sector, the proposed Task Force will directly tackle issues that affect the creation and growth of viable (and possibly pan-European) markets for creative works. In particular, the Task Force’s agenda will focus on certain specific issues whose complex and multi-faceted political and legal dimension has ended up weakening society’s consensus around copyright. The goal of the CEPS Task Force on digital copyright is to provide policymakers and field practitioners with an updated and independent view of very relevant and highly debated issues like online copyright enforcement measures, licensing rules and practices and the enforcement of copyright exceptions (including private copying levies) at both national and at European level. CEPS will publish an authoritative analysis leading to policy recommendations. The composition and work of the Task Force will take into account, in a balanced and objective way, the needs and problems identified by copyright holders’ representatives, industry players, advocates of Internet freedom and consumer interests, authoritative scholars and by the EU Commission officials acting in the field.
In view of its institutional role as copyright policymaker, the European Commission’s policy orientations and initiatives will be at the centre of the discussions to be held within the Task Force. The Commissioner in charge of intellectual property and notably copyright policy, Michel Barnier, has kindly accepted – in the context of a publicly accessible event where CEPS will present the agenda of its Task Force – to deliver a speech on how he sees the future and next steps of EU copyright policy. The DG Internal Market and Services (DG Markt) will also be closely associated to the debate, and as the Head of DG Markt’s Copyright Unit, Maria Martin-Prat, has accepted CEPS’s invitation to take part as a discussant in three workshops that will be held.
Rapporteur: Giuseppe Mazziotti, CEPS Research Fellow & Co-Manager of the Digital Forum.
Meetings
Launch event: 7 November 2012 (16.30-18.00 at CEPS), keynote speaker: Michel Barnier, Commissioner responsible for copyright.
1st: 14 November 2012
2nd: 13 December 2012
3rd: 16 January 2013
Click here to download the Task Force report: Copyright in the EU Digital Single Market
CEPS will ensure a fair and productive inter-institutional dialogue by inviting officials from other DGs of the EU Commission whose competences and tasks touch upon copyright-related matters as well as the European Data Protection Supervisor, the European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy and a balanced representation of the EU Parliament political groups to attend all workshops and actively contribute to the debate.
At the end of the Task Force, CEPS will publish and circulate among EU and member state policy circles policy recommendations together with a Background Report, which will be also formally published in the CEPS Task Force Report Publication Series. The Background Report will be based on discussion in the meetings, supplemented by research carried out by the Rapporteur and CEPS’ research team.
