German MEP Axel Voss calls for a single harmonised copyright regime in Europe

By Emmanuel Legrand

German Member of the European Parliament Axel Voss (pictured, below) has urged European member states, in particular Germany and France, to iron out their differences and work towards achieving a single, unified copyright regime covering the whole of the EU.

  Reflecting on the process that led to the adoption in 2019 by the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council of Europe of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, of which he was the rapporteur, Voss said: "It is sad that we could not convince member states to come with a European approach on copyright, and have same pre-conditions everywhere and not a fragmented system. We have to think differently in the future because we need a single European market for copyright."

  He added that France and Germany "could have done a transition to copyright reform" but had a "different approach."

Patchy implementation of the Directive

  Voss made the comments during a keynote address at an online event titled 'Final Countdown: Critical Article 17 Updates You Need To Know', organised by US music industry body MusicBiz to discuss the implementation of Article 17 of the Copyright Directive.

  Voss' comments were a reflection of the long process that led to the adoption of the Directive, in particular Article 17, which introduces the notion of liability for platforms if they do not license content, or do not take down content when it is not licensed. The Directive is due to be implemented by member states by June 20, 2021, but very few countries are likely to meet the deadline. In addition, the Commission was supposed to publish so-called "Guidelines" about the implementation of Article 17, and so far these Guidelines have not been made public.

  Voss fears that at implementation stages, each member state will have its own version of Article 17, rather than unified one. He was particularly worried about the situation in Germany, where "some instruments are not in line with international copyright," as the country's is introducing its own set of exemptions to Article 17.  

Finding balance between rights holders, platforms and users

  Instead, he praised the Netherlands, which "did a copy and paste" of the Directive during the implementation process. "This would be the right way," said Voss.

  Voss said that Article 17 was aimed at improving the licensing framework and was the result of a "pragmatic approach and of a complex balance." He added: "Our initial idea has always been to strengthen the position of rights holders and the rights of creators, authors and performers because of the, so far, non-existing balance."

  He continued: "We were trying to balance not only between platforms and rights holders but also in the interest of users. That's what we have done for users: you do not have liability any longer because we are transferring it to platforms."

Need for a unified approach

  Voss said he was confident that the legal challenge before the European Court of Justice launched by Poland on the Directive will not derail the implementation of the Directive. "I still have a hope that it will work in the end," he said.

  Looking at the future, Voss said, "We should already think of the next step in copyright and find a common platform and think about further progress on a more future-orientated copyright framework."

  He concluded: "I still think Art 17 is a balance between three partners: users, creators and platforms. But now I think it is always better to approach tech platforms unified. I hope there would be a European approach to this too but so far, it's not the way it is. I hope we can get to a new situation or they have too much power."

A level playing field

  Voss' comment capped a three hour session during which Burak Ozgen (pictured, below), General Counsel at the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC), explained the benefits provided by Article 17 provides and on the state of the implementation of the Directive.

  For Ozgen, Article 17 "created the legal basis for creators to license" to UGC platforms, when before they were shielded from liability by Article 14 of the e-commerce Directive. "It will provide a level playing field and more certainty for users," he said. "Art. 17 creates a legal presumption that there is a communication to the public and you need license for that."

  Ozgen updated the virtual audience on the latest developments regarding the implementation of the Directive: the Netherlands has adopted the Directive with a text very close to the original legislation. In France, the legislative process is close to completion with a text faithful to "the words and spirit " of the Directive.

Finland takes a pro-platform approach

  A group of four countries – Denmark, Romania, Croatia and Hungary – have draft laws in advance legislative process, and follow mainly the Directive with some local specificities. Germany is close to adoption but with some additional exemptions, while Austria will "need a bit more time."  

  Last, he mentioned Finland, which has so far only put out "a preliminary concept note with a pro-platforms approach." He added: "Finland is not close to implementation."