EU Copyright Directive
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The European Union (EU) directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society, commonly known as the EU Copyright Directive or short EUCD, is the EU's implementation of the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty.
This highly controversial Directive was, at that time, the most heavily lobbied measure[1] to pass the European Parliament. In its final form, it includes only very narrow exceptions to anti-circumvention measures and exclusive rights. As a result, it is generally regarded as a victory for copyright-owning interests (publishing, film, music and major software companies) over copyright users' interests (who, during the lobbying process, were primarily represented by librarians and not by consumer organizations).
Many important details are not specified in the Directive, and as a result, EU member states have significant freedom in certain aspects of directive implementation. The resulting lack of harmonisation in the member states' copyright regimes has led the chairman of the European Commission's Legal Advisory Board Taskforce on Intellectual Property to state that the directive is "unimportant, and possibly invalid"[2].
Due to escalating public awareness of the importance of copyright legislation, the process of implementation has not been entirely predictable.
Member states which have implemented the Directive to date:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland (see Lex Karpela)
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- The Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- The United Kingdom
Member states which have not (yet) implemented the Directive to date:
- Czech Republic
- France The DADVSI act ("Droits d'auteur et droits voisins dans la société de l'information" - "Rights of the Author and other related rights in the information society") was supposed to implement the directive in France. However, two last-minute amendments on December 22, 2005, legalized the exchange, for private use, of copies on the internet, thus legalizing "peer-to-peer" exchanges. The debates started again in March 2006 and those amendments were effectively repealed. <ref> Template:Fr Template:Cite news Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cite newsTemplate:Cite news</ref>
- Spain
See also
- Copyright law of the European Union
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act, FIPR, EDRi, FSFE, EFF, Copyleft.
- Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection (1993)
- List of European Union directives
- Peer-to-peer exchange systems
References
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External links
- Overview of the important articles
- Final text of the 2001 EU Copyright Directive
- 2001 EU Copyright Directive
- Text of the UK implementation
- EUCD Status Tracking - Implementation in Member States
- Overview of the EUCD in EU member states
- Foundation for Information Policy Research(FIPR): http://www.fipr.org/copyright/guide/
- EUCD - Copyright extensions that harm, by FSFE
- Harvard Digital Media Project EUCD materials
- EUCD.infoes:Directiva de la Unión Europea sobre derecho de autor