IFLA welcomes European Commission’s Decision to review the EU rules on copyright
10 December 2012
EU commissioners met in Brussels on December 5th to discuss possible changes to EU copyright law. IFLA is pleased to note that they agreed to revisit the existing European Union copyright rules and that Commissioners Barnier, Kroes and Vassiliou will now undertake a comprehensive period of stakeholder dialogue during 2013 in order to make a final assessment of any changes needed to European legislation in 2014. IFLA looks forward to engaging in the process.
Prior to the Commissioners’ meeting The Copyright for Creativity (C4C) group issued a letter to all EU Commissioners which stressed the importance of flexible copyright and urged the European Union to refrain from overly restrictive copyright licensing policies. IFLA is a member of C4C, which consists of more than twenty organisations representing libraries, digital civil liberties, free software, and an open, user-friendly internet. Along with the other C4C members, IFLA believes that licensing has an important role to play in providing access to information, but a fact-based assessment of alternatives to licensing, particularly exceptions and limitations, is also required to establish appropriate balance.