January 15, 2020 · Blogs | Information democracy | Open internet and inclusive technology | Transparency

Copyright stakeholder dialogues: Filters can’t understand context

On 16 December 2019, the European Commission held the fourth meeting of the Copyright Directive Article 17 stakeholder dialogues. During the “first phase”, meetings focused on the practices in different industries such as music, games, software, audiovisual and publishing. This meeting was the last of what the Commission called the “second phase”, where meetings were […]

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April 9, 2014 · Blogs

UK adds format shifting and parody to copyright laws

The UK government has proposed regulations to add format shifting, parody and non-commercial text mining to copyright laws. After two major reviews, run by two different governments in 2006 and 2010, recommendations for greater flexibility in copyright have been tabled for voting in the UK. A debate and vote will follow at the start of […]

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January 10, 2018 · Blogs | Information democracy | Data protection standards | Platform regulation

Copyright reform: State of play

In 2016, the European Commission (EC) launched its proposal for a new Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. This reform was supposed to update the previous Directive, to adapt it to the digital world. Since the previous Directive was adopted in 2001 (after a four-year legislative process), technology and the online ecosystem have […]

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September 12, 2018 · Press releases | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online | Platform regulation

Press Release: EU Parliament flip-flops backwards on copyright

The Parliament’s today vote represents a backwards flip-flop to supporting measures which it had previously dismissed.

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April 26, 2006

Debate on the revision of Swiss copyright law

On April 6, the Swiss copyright office launched a discussion on the proposal for the revision of the copyright law in Switzerland at its media event in Berne. The Swiss copyright office presented a pocket guide as well as a website and commented on the most important changes. The primary goal of the copyright revision […]

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January 17, 2007

Copyright extension term rejected by EU commissioned report

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The Recasting of Copyright & Related Rights for the Knowledge Economy is a new study commissioned by the European Union and produced by the Institute for Information Law – University of Amsterdam. The report covers an extensive ground in the EU copyright domain taking into consideration the […]

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May 23, 2007

UK House of Commons culture committee wants copyright extension

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The copyright term for sound recordings is back on the public agenda in UK, after a report from the House of Commons culture committee has recommended its extension from 50 to 70 years, despite the negative feedback received earlier from Andrew Gowers’ report or a recent study […]

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August 1, 2007

UK Government rejects the extension of the copyright term for performers

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) To the big disappointment of the music industry, the UK Government refused to promote at the EU level, the extension of the presently 50-year copyright term for performers. According to the EU rules, the copyright period for song writers and their families covers their entire lives plus […]

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December 17, 2008

UK Government now in favour of the extension of the copyright term

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) At UK Music’s Creators’ Conference on 1 December 2008, Culture Minister Andy Burnham announced the backing of the UK Government to extending the copyright term for sound recordings to 70 years. The decision goes against the recommendations of Andrew Gowers, whose 2006 review of copyright is in […]

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February 24, 2010

ENDitorial: Richard Stallman on "Copyright versus Public" in Berne

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [ENDitorial: Richard Stallmann in Bern über „Urheberrecht vs. Öffentlichkeit“ | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1731] On 11 February 2010 the auditorium at the University of Berne was packed for a talk by Richard Stallman on copyright issues. Stallman is better known as the founder of the GNU free software system which, together […]

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May 4, 2011

Copyright complaint leads to public domain music library takedown

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Urheberrechtsbeschwerde: Musikbibliothek offline | http://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.9_Urheberrechtsbeschwerde_Musikbibliothek_offline] International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), the largest public domain music library on the Internet, has been recently taken offline following a complaint from the UK’s Music Publishers Association which convinced registrar GoDaddy to takedown their website. The action was brought over a […]

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December 5, 2012

Chisugate: Copyright blackmail in Finland

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Chisugate: Copyright-Erpressung in Finnland | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.23_Chisugate_Copyright-Erpressung_in_Finnland?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20121205] In the spring of 2012, in Finland, the father of a young girl received what amounted to a blackmail letter from a copyright lawyer. The letter demanded the payment of 600 Euros as damages for having distributed copyright-protected music recordings. The letter […]

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