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Select Committee on European Legislation Tenth Report
COPYRIGHT AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY |
10.1 On 1 November 1995,
we reported[18] on a
comprehensive Green Paper which sought to focus debate on the
challenges to copyright and related rights in the context of the
increasing use of new technologies for the dissemination of information
and data. The present Communication has been prepared by the
Commission following responses to the Green Paper from the Governments
of Member States and from the private sector. The document sets
out the Commission's current policy in these areas, analyses the
responses to the Green Paper, and indicates the proposed course
of action, together with the priority which the Commission places
on it.
10.2 In Chapter 2 of the
Communication, the Commission lists areas in which, it says, immediate
action is required in order to eliminate significant barriers
to trade in copyright goods and services or distortion of competition
between Member States. It will shortly make proposals in the
following areas:
- harmonisation
of the right of communication to the public on the lines of submissions
made by the Community and Member States to the World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO);
- harmonisation
of the legal protection of the integrity of technical identification
and protection schemes which are currently being developed for
the automatic identification of protected material, defining in
particular the scope of protection and the infringer's liability;
- harmonisation
of the distribution right for authors in line with existing Community
provisions for computer programs and databases.
10.3 The Commission's Communication
also discusses, in Chapter 3, a number of areas where further
action or consideration is necessary before decisions can be made
for legislative proposals. They are:
- the
application and enforcement of the law;
- the
management of rights, which the Commission intends to study, in
particular the way in which the market evolves in response to
the Information Society; and
- moral
rights, including whether disparities in legislation constitute
significant obstacles to the exploitation of works and other material
requiring harmonised protection of moral rights across the EU.
10.4 In Chapter 4 of its
Communication the Commission examines the work of the World Intellectual
Property Organisation and the case for reaching international
agreement in parallel with the preparation of Community harmonisation.
10.5 The Government's views
on the Communication are set out in an Explanatory Memorandum,
dated 13 January, submitted by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State for Science and Technology at the Department of Trade
and Industry (Mr Ian Taylor). The Minister tells us:
"The
Department's own analysis of responses from UK interests to the
questions posed in the Green Paper generally confirms the Commission's
findings as set out in the current Communication, and the UK can
agree that action in the short term should be confined to the
basic issues discussed in Chapter 2. It is particularly welcome
that the Commission has accepted the need for further reflection
prior to any Community action on the difficult issues discussed
in Chapter 3. The Communication has been distributed widely to
UK interested parties.
"United
Kingdom copyright law was completely revised and updated relatively
recently[19] and already
provides a sound basis to meet the challenges of new technology.
In particular, UK law already ensures that reproduction rights
extend to electronic reproduction, such as storage in a computer
memory, and provides rights to control digital distribution through
electronic networks by giving copyright holders the right to authorise
the inclusion of works in 'on-demand' and other cable programme
services. However, as the UK has consistently emphasised, digital
networks do not recognise national boundaries and the information
society will necessitate international harmonisation of copyright
laws to an appropriate standard.
"The
United Kingdom has therefore welcomed the intention to harmonise
the basic rights for the digital age of reproduction and communication
to the public by on-line transmission, while expressing the view
to the Commission that any attempt to harmonise limitations and
exceptions to these rights should not be too prescriptive, especially
given the differing sensitivities and cultural traditions of Member
States in this area. This is particularly true in the area of
private copying, where following extensive debate at the time
of the 1988 Act, it was decided not to introduce in the UK a tape
levy régime such as exists in a number of other Member
States. The UK has also stressed that any proposal to harmonise
exclusive rights of performers should not hinder the exploitation
of works in the digital environment.
"With
regard to the other areas identified in Chapter 2 as warranting
priority attention, the UK welcomes the Commission's conclusion
that there should be no international exhaustion of the distribution
right, and that exhaustion of rights should not occur for on-line
dissemination. The UK also accepts the need to harmonise the
legal protection of the integrity of technical systems of identification
and protection: there is already a specific provision in UK copyright
law outlawing unauthorised devices designed to circumvent copy-protection.
"The
final chapter of the Communication outlines the parallel work
in the international forum of the World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO). Since the Commission's document was drafted,
the Diplomatic Conference of December 1996 in Geneva has concluded
successfully, with agreement on two new international treaties
on copyright and the rights of performers and phonogram producers.
The United Kingdom is generally content with the outcome in Geneva,
where key UK objectives were achieved and the main interests of
UK rights holders were secured, and considers that the two new
treaties will provide a substantial boost to intellectual property
protection worldwide.
"Both
WIPO treaties include provision which cater for digital technology,
covering for example 'on-demand' transmissions and protection
of the integrity of technical systems of identification and protection.
Both treaties recognise a right of distribution to the public
of copies of works, while leaving national legislation to determine
the question of exhaustion of rights. The copyright treaty also
contains provisions on the protection of computer programs and
original databases and on the rental of works. "However, with no agreement possible on the rights of performers in the audiovisual sector and no discussion possible on a third draft treaty on sui generis protection for non-original databases, the work in WIPO will continue. The UK played an active role at the Diplomatic Conference and will continue to support and contribute to this important work at the wider international level." Conclusion
10.6 The Minister has
provided in his Memorandum a comprehensive commentary on the Commission's
Communication for which we thank him. We have concluded that
the Commission's observations and intended proposals (they do
not at this stage constitute formal proposals for legislation)
are matters of political importance. But in view of the general
concurrence of these responses by the Commission with present
copyright policies in the United Kingdom, we see no need to recommend
a debate. 18 (16446); see HC 70-xxvi (1994-95), paragraph 13 (1 November 1995). Back 19 The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Back |
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| © Parliamentary copyright 1997 | Prepared 31 January 1997 |