Representatives of the entertainment and consumer electronics
industries are lobbying against a draft Copyright Directive which
will be considered on Wednesday by the Legal Affairs Committee of
the European Parliament.
The draft Directive aims to adapt the rights of copyright owners
such as musicians, directors and publishers for the "digital age".
It creates a new set of rights to govern the creation, production,
sale or transmission of copyright-protected material. The US passed
a similar law in 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Industry observers fear that the Directive, if passed in its
present form, could open loopholes that would legalise the
widespread on-line sharing of music and video files.
The concern is largely centred on the wording of a provision
that allows for private copying. Under the draft, an individual can
make a copy of copyright protected material for private use. The
concern of copyright owners is that the wording is ambiguous and
could legitimise mass file sharing services like Napster.
