HARMONISATION OF COPYRIGHT
(21211)
—
| Unofficial Presidency text of the draft Directive on the harmonisation of
certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society.
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| Legal base:
| Articles 47(2), 55 and 95 EC; co-decision; qualified majority voting
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| |
| Department: |
Trade and Industry |
| Basis of consideration:
| Minister's letter of 22 May 2000
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| Previous Committee Report:
| HC 23-xviii (1999-2000), paragraph 17 (17 May 2000)
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| Discussed in Council:
| 25 May 2000 |
| Committee's assessment:
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision:
| Cleared (decision reported on 17 May 2000)
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Aim of the proposed Directive
15.1 The draft Directive seeks to harmonise copyright
and related rights, primarily to deal with the impact of digital
technology. The main rights affected are the reproduction right,
the right of communication to the public, which covers electronic
transmission, including digital broadcasting and "on-demand"
services, and the distribution right. It includes extensive exceptions
to these rights covering, for instance, copies made for private
purposes, or temporary copies made as part of an electronic process.
It also provides protection for technological measures used to
safeguard rights or to identify material such as copy protection
systems or digital watermarks.
Scrutiny
15.2 The draft of the Directive amended after
the European Parliament's First Reading[14],
was debated in European Standing Committee C on 27 October 1999[15],
together with the draft Directive on certain legal aspects of
electronic commerce in the internal market.[16]
On 17 May, we considered an unofficial Presidency text which the
Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs at the Department
of Trade and Industry (Dr Howells) described as redressing a shift
in favour of right holders, made when the text was amended after
the European Parliament's First Reading. We cleared the document
but asked the Minister whether the compromises which he said that
the Government had succeeded in brokering commanded the support
of groups such as British Music Rights, or whether significant
interest groups remained discontented with the balance.
The Minister's reply
15.3 The Minister comments that the questions
posed by the Committee are highly relevant to the continuing negotiations
on the draft Directive, concerning as they do the most controversial
issue of harmonisation of exceptions to rights. He says:
"Right from the outset,
it has been clear that the Commission's decision to seek to harmonise
exceptions to rights would provide the main obstacle to agreement
on the proposal. Positions of interested parties rapidly polarised
and Member States' views differed sharply on this issue, not least
because of the widely differing ways in which exceptions to rights
are treated in the countries of the Community. Protection for
right holders in the UK is robust with narrowly drafted exceptions
to exclusive rights only where considered necessary. However,
in certain other Member States, some exceptions such as for private
copying are considerably broader, usually in return for remuneration
for right holders. Given this disparate situation across Europe,
it was hardly surprising that the Commission's intention to harmonise
exceptions sparked a controversial debate."
15.4 Whilst sympathising with concerns of right
holders in the UK about broader exceptions in continental Europe,
the Minister says that the Government has been pressing to maintain
the present balance in the UK. It has not encountered any significant
dissatisfaction with current UK copyright law and its limited
exceptions régime. The damaging effects of a more restrictive
exceptions régime for the UK have been made evident by
user groups in the consumer, educational, library and research
fields. They have lobbied continuously against the requirement
proposed in the Directive to link all exceptions in these areas,
no matter how minor, to payment to right holders.
15.5 Just as some right holders are not wholly
supportive of the compromise solutions currently being developed,
so too user groups, service providers and the consumer electronics
industry still have concerns about certain aspects of the developing
package, the Minister says. At the end of the day, however, the
Government must ensure that the final outcome on the Directive
will be, as far as possible, the best deal for UK interests as
a whole. The Government, meanwhile, has been fostering dialogue
between UK interests to try to build confidence and eliminate
misunderstandings, and thereby obtain some movement from less
defensible positions. It was also essential to get the message
of a need for compromise to the parties concerned.
15.6 The Minister explains that he has sought
to reassure the different interest groups, pointing out to right
holders, in particular, that the list of exceptions remains exhaustive
and that the latest draft of the mandatory exception for temporary
copies significantly improves the position for right holders.
He says that he has also emphasised that the Government believes
that the Directive is now coming closer to a fairer balance on
the private copying issue, which should generally allow right
holders to control this through the use of technological measures,
but permit Member States to take action in cases where the legitimate
expectations of users are frustrated.
15.7 Summing up, the Minister says that the Government
remains fully committed to ensuring both that right holders continue
to have appropriate control over the use of their works, and that
a fair and reasonable balance with the interests of other groups
in society can be maintained:
"We certainly cannot
have a situation in the UK where, for example, the public's ability
to continue to time-shift broadcasts[17]
must be curtailed because of unduly broad exceptions in other
Member States. We believe we have the makings of a workable compromise
in the latest text from the Presidency, and will continue to consult
closely with British Music Rights and other groups in pursuit
of an outcome acceptable to the broadest possible range of interests."
Conclusion
15.8 The Minister has provided us with a reassuring
account of the Government's handling of this complex proposal,
in which it makes it clear how conscious it is of the different
interests involved and how it is seeking to achieve a compromise
which provides a fair balance between them.
15.9 We cleared the document when we last
considered it on 17 May. We now thank the Minister for his full
response to the concerns we put to him.
14 (20191) 8723/99; see HC 34-xxiii, paragraph 2 (23
June 1999). Back
15 Official
Report; European Standing
Committee C, 27 October 1999. Back
16 (20423)
10644/99; see HC 34-xxviii, paragraph 2 (20 October 1999). Back
17 Making
for private and domestic use a recording of a broadcast or cable
programme solely for the purpose of enabling it to be viewed or
listened to at a more convenient time. Back
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