Cc-europe mailing list

[Paul Keller <pk AT kl.nl>]

dear all,

as you will have noticed the EU commission has published its long awaited 
digital agenda (pdf at: http://bit.ly/c9qmaG ) yesterday. the digital agenda 
covers a fairly broad range of topics and some of these appear to be highly 
relevant to our work. The following is based on my quick first reading, but i 
would propose that we make this one of the main topics of discussion at our 
upcoming meeting in torino. 

From the perspective of creative commons the first part of the digital agenda 
is particularly interesting. this part deals with 'A vibrant digital single 
market' (see full text of this part below) and deals with two issues that we 
have been dealing with in the past. the first one is collective rights 
management and the second one is public sector information. 

With regards to collective rights management the commission signals the need 
to overcome the situation where licenses need to be acquired on a per member 
state basis and wants to facilitate cross border licensing. In order to 
achieve this, the commission is looking to improve the governance and 
transparency of collective rights management. This is reflected by the first 
action contained in the agenda: the commission will propose a framework 
Directive on collective rights management in 2010. 

This probably represents the single most important opportunity that we will 
ever get to fix the problems that we have with collective rights management 
by  including in the proposed framework directive the requirement to let 
members of collecting societies to opt out of the collective in order to use 
Creative Commons (or other open content licenses).

With regards to public sector information the digital agenda stresses the 
need to have governments to stimulate the market for open content by making 
available public sector information. According to the agenda 'governments can 
stimulate content markets by making public sector information available on 
transparent, effective, non- discriminatory terms'. One way to express such 
terms are of course the licenses and other legal tools provided by Creative 
Commons. With regard to this the commission is proposing a review of the 
directive in 2012.

In addition the comission is also announcing Green Paper addressing the 
opportunities and challenges of online distribution of audiovisual works and 
other creative content. Such a green paper will most likely come with a 
consultation attached which will provide us with another position to make our 
position heard. 

also there is a rather cryptic notion in section 2.2.1 that deal with ICT 
standard setting on page 15:

> Moreover, guidance on transparent ex-ante disclosure rules for essential 
> intellectual property rights and licensing terms and conditions in the 
> context of standard- setting, to be provided in particular in the 
> forthcoming reform of EU standardisation policy as well as in updated 
> antitrust rules on horizontal co-operation agreements, could contribute to 
> lower royalty demands for the use of standards and thus to lower market 
> entry costs.


i have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, but given Joi's recent 
positioning of CC as a protocol/standard it this might be relevant as well 
(if somebody here can decipher the language that is) 

so much for now and looking forward to discuss this in torino. 
paul 

> It is time for a new single market to deliver the benefits of the digital 
> era.
> 
> The internet is borderless, but online markets, both globally and in the 
> EU, are still separated by multiple barriers affecting not only access to 
> pan-European telecom services but also to what should be global internet 
> services and content. This is untenable. First, the creation of attractive 
> online content and services and its free circulation inside the EU and 
> across its borders are fundamental to stimulate the virtuous cycle of 
> demand. However, persistent fragmentation is stifling Europe's 
> competitiveness in the digital economy. It is therefore not surprising that 
> the EU is falling behind in markets such as media services, both in terms 
> of what consumers can access, and in terms of business models that can 
> create jobs in Europe. Most of the recent successful internet businesses 
> (such as Google, eBay, Amazon and Facebook) originate outside of Europe3. 
> Second, despite the body of key single market legislation on eCommerce, 
> eInvoicing and eSignatures, transactions in the digital environment are 
> still too complex, with inconsistent implementation of the rules across 
> Member States. Third, consumers and businesses are still faced with 
> considerable uncertainty about their rights and legal protection when doing 
> business on line. Fourth, Europe is far from having a single market for 
> telecom services. The single market therefore needs a fundamental update to 
> bring it into the internet era.
> Tackling these problems requires extensive actions in the areas described 
> below:
> 
> 2.1.1.        Opening up access to content
> 
> Consumers expect, rightly, that they can access content online at least as 
> effectively as in the offline world. Europe lacks a unified market in the 
> content sector. For instance, to set-up a pan-European service an online 
> music store would have to negotiate with numerous rights management 
> societies based in 27 countries. Consumers can buy CDs in every shop but 
> are often unable to buy music from online platforms across the EU because 
> rights are licensed on a national basis. This contrasts with the relatively 
> simple business environment and distribution channels in other regions, 
> notably the US, and reflects other fragmented markets such as those in Asia 
> (Figure 2).
> 
> To maintain the trust of right-holders and users and facilitate 
> cross-border licensing, the governance and transparency of collective 
> rights management needs to improve and adapt to technological progress. 
> Easier, more uniform and technologically neutral solutions for cross-border 
> and pan-European licensing in the audiovisual sector will stimulate 
> creativity and help the content producers and broadcasters, to the benefit 
> of European citizens. Such solutions should preserve the contractual 
> freedom of right holders. Right holders would not be obliged to license for 
> all European territories, but would remain free to restrict their licenses 
> to certain territories and to contractually set the level of licence fees.
> 
> If need be, additional measures will be examined which take into account 
> the specificities of all the different forms of online content. In this 
> regard, the Commission does not exclude or favour at this stage any 
> particular option or legal instrument. These issues have also been 
> addressed by Professor Monti in his report "A new strategy for the Single 
> Market", presented to the President of the European Commission on 9 May 
> 2010, on which the Commission will follow up with a Communication before 
> the summer 2010.
> 
> Digital distribution of cultural, journalistic and creative content, being 
> cheaper and quicker, enables authors and content providers to reach new and 
> larger audiences. Europe needs to push ahead with the creation, production 
> and distribution (on all platforms) of digital content. For instance, 
> Europe has strong publishers but more competitive online platforms are 
> needed. This requires innovative business models, through which content 
> would be accessed and paid for in many different ways, that achieve a fair 
> balance between right-holders' revenues and the general public's access to 
> content and knowledge. Legislation may not be necessary to enable such new 
> business models to prosper if all stakeholders cooperate on a contractual 
> basis. The availability of a wide and attractive legal online legal offer 
> would also be an effective response to piracy.
> 
> Public authorities should play their part in promoting markets for online 
> content. The challenges of convergence should be addressed in all reviews 
> of public policy, including tax matters. For example, governments can 
> stimulate content markets by making public sector information available on 
> transparent, effective, non- discriminatory terms. This is an important 
> source of potential growth of innovative online services. The re-use of 
> these information resources has been partly harmonised5, but additionally 
> public bodies must be obliged to open up data resources for cross-border 
> applications and services
> 
> ACTIONS: The Commission will:
> 
> • Key Action 1: Simplify copyright clearance, management and cross-border
> licensing by
> 
> • Enhancing the governance, transparency and pan European licensing for
> (online) rights management by proposing a framework Directive on
> collective rights management by 2010;
> 
> • Create a legal framework to facilitate the digitisation and dissemination 
> of
> cultural works in Europe by proposing a Directive on orphan works by
> 2010, to conduct a dialogue with stakeholders with a view to further 
> measures
> on out-of print works, complemented by rights information databases;
> 
> • By 2012, review the Directive on Re-Use of Public Sector Information,
> notably its scope and principles on charging for access and use

[...]

> • In preparation thereof, issue a Green Paper addressing the opportunities 
> and
> challenges of online distribution of audiovisual works and other creative
> content by 2010;


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