The European Commission has welcomed political agreement on a
Directive on Copyright and related rights in the information
society.
The proposed Directive will stimulate creativity and innovation
by ensuring that music, films, videos and all materials protected
by copyright are adequately protected throughout the Internal
Market.
The Directive aims to make cross-border trade in
copyright-protected goods and services easier, with particular
emphasis on "new" Information Society products and services (both
on-line and on off-line).
Network operators will have the benefit of an obligatory
exception for technical copies on the net.
"This is a breakthrough in what is a vitally important dossier,"
said Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein. "The internet
is transforming film, video and music and reinventing the concept
of audience participation. For Europe's creative artists and
copyright-based industries to derive maximum benefit, we need to
ensure their intellectual property rights are protected. But that
has to be weighed against the rights of other interests network
operators, users including consumers, the educational community and
society at large. The balance has been delicate, but it is finally
secured."
The Directive covers the rights of reproduction, communication
to the public, distribution, the legal protection of anti-copying
devices and rights management systems.
