Digital media rights activists, though, have warned that the
plan covers much more ground than just copyright, and that consumer
rights could be damaged by it.
The Commission has said that the fact that Europe has a large
number of national laws on copyright and other intellectual
property rights is holding its music, film and games industries
back. It wants to "facilitate" multi-territory copyright licences
in response to the problem, though it has not identified how this
should be done.
"Europe's content sector is suffering under its regulatory
fragmentation, under its lack of clear, consumer-friendly rules for
accessing copyright-protected online content, and serious
disagreements between stakeholders about fundamental issues such as
levies and private copying," said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner
for the Information Society and Media.
"We have to make a choice in Europe: Do we want to have a strong
music, film and games industry? Then we should give industry legal
certainty, content creators a fair remuneration and consumers broad
access to a rich diversity of content online," she said.
The Commission has launched a consultation to help it form a new
strategy which it hopes will eventually lead to a Europe-wide
copyright licensing regime.
"The Commission also wants to facilitate copyright licences for
online content covering the territory of several or all of the EU
Member States," said a Commission statement. "According to
Commission studies, a truly single market without borders for
creative online content could strengthen considerably the
competitiveness of Europe's music, film and games industry and
allow retail revenues of the sector to quadruple by 2010 if clear
and consumer-friendly measures are taken by industry and public
authorities."
However, the plan could threaten consumer rights in a number of
areas, according to digital consumer rights pressure group the Open
Rights Group (ORG).
"Looking at some of the details of the European Commission
consultation document it seems to be that they are proposing a lot
more than just a cross Europe licensing scheme," said Becky Hogg,
executive director of ORG. "There is stuff here about transparency
and interoperability in digital rights management systems, there is
stuff about codes of conduct between internet service providers and
rights holders to encourage legal access and discourage
unauthorised file sharing."
"These sorts of proposals have been causing waves in the
consumer rights community since the last part of last year when
France announced an experimental project where ISPs would monitor
and disconnect users suspected of illicit file-sharing online," she
said.
Hogg said that the consultation was likely to touch on difficult
questions that the UK has already answered, such as the proposed
extension of the copyright term in sound recordings beyond the
current 50 year limit. This was a proposal that was rejected by
Andrew Gowers in his 2006 review of intellectual property law,
which the Treasury has backed.
"Gowers has already rejected this so it will be interesting to
see how that goes, but we will be keen to see the evidence that
Gowers collected on that being put before the European Commission,"
said Hogg.
Hogg said, though, that ORG had no principled objection to a
pan-European copyright licence, and that it could solve a problem
that certainly exists.
"It is certainly good news that the European Commission is
looking it and if there can be a simpler system then both for
artists and consumers that is good news," she said. "But what's
clear is that this is yet another front for consumer groups to be
aware of."
The consultation paper, published 3rd January, says that the
Commission wants "a framework for DRM transparency concerning,
amongst others, the interoperability of different DRMs, and
ensuring that consumers are properly informed of any usage
restrictions placed on downloaded content, as well as of the
interoperability of related online services."
The consultation also addresses End User Licence Agreements
(EULAs) and asks whether reducing the complexity and enhancing the
legibility of EULAs would help to develop online creative content
services in Europe.
The consultation closes on 29th February. Reding said that a
formal Recommendation on how to achieve a single market for online
content will be proposed by mid-2008.
