The first quarter of 2022 in EU copyright
The implementation of Directive 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC (the so called DSM Directive) is still underway across Europe. Only eleven member states have so far implemented the directive. Implementing legislation is in its final stages in the parliament in Luxembourg and Spain, whilst sixteen member states – Slovenia included – have not reached that stage yet. A public discussion of implementing draft laws was held in Slovenia on 5. january 2022, with not much activity seen since. The CJEU key decision regarding article 17 of the DSM Directive in case C-401/19, Poland v Parliament and Council, is also fast approaching (26. April 2022). After the final decision on Poland’s action for annulment is issued, Poland is expected to begin the implementation process as well.
AG Pitruzzella issued his opinion in case C-716/20, RTL Television (link in French). He held that the notion of ‘cable retransmission’ refers to the retransmission of a primary transmission by cable distributors, who carry out such retransmission as professional operators in the context of a conventional cable network.
The CJEU has accepted a preliminary assessment (5. January 2022) on whether Directive 2014/26/EU must be interpreted as precluding national legislation that reserves access to the copyright intermediation market, or in any event the granting of licences to users, solely to entities which can be classified, according to the definition in that directive, as collective management organisations, to the exclusion of those which can be classified as independent management entities incorporated in that Member State or in other Member States. The case will be discussed under the number C-10/2022 LEA.
In other news, related to copyright law:
The European Commission issued its proposal of the ‘Data Act’ (23. February 2022). The proposed regulation would harmonise rules on who can use and access data generated in the EU across all economic sectors.
European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement (24. March 2022) regarding a highly awaited regulation, the so called “Digital Markets Act” – DMA.
The Grand Board of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) finally ruled that the figurative sign ‘COVIDIOT’ cannot be registered as an EU trademark.
The 4th Open Knowledge Day took place on Tuesday 17 October 2023, with an accompanying workshop on 18 October 2023. This year it was organised by the Open Data and Intellectual Property Institute (ODIPI) and supported by Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21).
We invite you to the fourth Open Knowledge Day and the workshop, which will take place this year within the framework of the programme and with the support of Knowledge Rights 21. The event will bring together experts from different European countries to discuss two topics: the first part will deal with the legal basis for data analytics, which is a key part of machine learning and related artificial intelligence, and the general exception for research. In the second part, open science in theory and practice will be presented both in Slovenia and in some Western Balkan countries. Representatives of research and educational institutions from Slovenia and the Western Balkan countries, as well as interested members of the public, are invited to attend.
Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič, a renowned expert in copyright law, has joined the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where she will serve as an affiliate researcher for the next two years.