What will change on copyright (and who snorts)
What does the preliminary draft legislative decree (which transposes the EU directive on copyright and related rights in the digital single market) approved by the Council of Ministers envisages
The preliminary draft legislative decree that transposes the EU directive 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the digital single market was approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers.
The scheme will now be submitted to Parliament for examination and then definitively adopted by the Council of Ministers.
The legislative decree scheme adopted by the CDM provides that online platforms (including social networks), when granting public access to works protected by copyright uploaded by their users, are obliged to obtain authorization from part of the rights holders (excluding, among others, online encyclopedias, educational and scientific repertoires, providers of online markets, cloud services).
Green light to fair compensation for publishers for the use of their articles by online platforms, including social networks, with the possibility for authors to receive a share of the proceeds. It is one of the main rules contained in the preliminary draft of the legislative decree.
A new related right is introduced in favor of newspaper publishers for the online use of their content by information society service providers, media monitoring companies and press reviews. In this sense, publishers are given the opportunity to negotiate agreements with these subjects in order to receive a fair remuneration for the use of the content they produce.
Furthermore, the right of the authors of journalistic contents to receive a share of the proceeds attributed to the publishers is envisaged. The right – this was one of the most debated points – is not recognized either in the case of private or non-commercial use of journalistic publications by individual users, or in the case of hypertext links or the use of single words or very short extracts.
It will therefore be up to Agcom to adopt a regulation that identifies the criteria for determining fair compensation and that guides the negotiation between the parties. For this reason, the information obligation has been introduced for online service providers, who must make available to the interested party any data suitable for determining the extent of fair compensation.
The Authority itself supervises this fulfillment and, in the event of failure to communicate the data, applies a pecuniary administrative sanction up to 1% of the turnover. Authors, performers and performers must be able to obtain regularly updated and complete information on the exploitation of their works from the subjects to whom they have licensed or transferred the rights.
Failure to communicate the information involves the application of a pecuniary administrative sanction up to 1% of the turnover, again by Agcom.
Finally, theatrical performances in streaming are equated with audiovisual works for the protection of rights, which is also ensured for new professional figures such as the dubbing director and the dialogue adapter.
There is no lack of criticism from online sector associations as well as from research institutes linked to the giants of the web, as told by Start Magazine .
According to the lawyer Marco Scialdone, professor of Law and Management of digital content and services at the European University of Rome, the government provision also disregards the opinion of the Italian Permanent Advisory Committee for Copyright, established at the Ministry of Culture , of which he belongs: "We had been submitted – said Scialdone – a completely different standard from the one approved today, so I wonder why the Committee (which is a technical consultative body and has expressed a formal opinion) was given a text that there was no intention of continuing in that formulation. It is very unique that there has been no debate or technical supervision. Especially since it is unique in Europe and has very little to do with the text of the directive. The risk is that both the Constitutional Court, for the excess of delegation, and the Court of Justice of the European Union, will be involved for violation of Community law. It is difficult not to find a case of gold plating , an excess of regulation compared to what was decided in Brussels, a practice that Italy has undertaken to oppose, even in the NRP ”.
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EXTRACT FROM AN ARTICLE FROM THE SUN 24 HOURS:
Going into detail, in transposing article 15 of the Directive, the decree introduces a specific provision into the law on copyright that regulates the exclusive right of publishers to authorize the reproduction and online communication of their publications by the "service providers ". The only exception is the case of "snippets", ie "short extracts" of newspaper articles that can be freely used and that according to the Italian transposition cannot in any case exceed 150 characters.
Agcom will establish the reference criteria for fair remuneration for publishers within 60 days of the entry into force of the Legislative Decree. The provision, consistent with the Directive's broader purpose of guaranteeing the remuneration of authors, however, provides that a share of between 2% and 5% of the fair remuneration paid by providers to publishers for the use of articles is recognized to journalists. Great attention is then given to the issue of the fair remuneration of authors and artists in exploitation contracts (articles 18-23 of the Directive) with the adoption of rigorous rules aimed at guaranteeing an adequate and proportionate remuneration of authors and artists, which in Italy specifically include dialogue adapters and voice actors. To support it, strict disclosure obligations are introduced for users. «Authors, performers and performers – reads a note from the Ministry of Culture – must be able to regularly obtain updated and complete information on the exploitation of their works from the subjects to whom they have licensed or transferred the rights. Failure to communicate the information entails, for the defaulting party, the application of a pecuniary administrative sanction up to 1% of the turnover by Agcom ».
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SUMMARY OF THE COUNCIL PRESIDENCY :
12. Implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the digital single market and amending Directives 96/9 / EC and 2001/29 / CE (Minister of Culture)
The directive modernizes the EU legal framework for copyright, adapting it to the contemporary digital environment and thus ensuring a high level of protection of copyright and related rights. Technological developments have considerably changed the context of the use of creative content, making it necessary to remedy the problems linked to the uncontrolled circulation of intellectual works by updating the rules on copyright, to adapt them to the methods of accessing online content. by users.
The European measure creates a comprehensive framework in which copyrighted material, right holders, publishers, service providers and users can benefit from clearer, more transparent and more appropriate rules for the digital age.
In transposing the European directive, the decree specifically provides that the material deriving from an act of reproduction of a work of visual art, for which the duration of protection has been exceeded, is not subject to copyright or related rights, unless it is an original work resulting from the intellectual creation of its author. This allows the dissemination, online sharing and free reuse of non-original copies of works of art that have become public domain, without prejudice to the other specific disciplines regarding the use of digital images of cultural heritage.
The provision also introduces rules capable of recognizing publishers, both individually and in associated form, a related right for the use of their journalistic publications by service providers of information companies, media monitoring companies and press reviews. in this sense, publishers are given the opportunity to negotiate agreements with these subjects in order to receive a fair remuneration for the use of the contents produced by them.
Finally, among the various innovations, the measures that guarantee the proper functioning of copyright negotiations should be noted. Among these, in the first place it should be mentioned the recognition of the role of AGCOM as the subject to which the definition of the quantum of an agreement between the parties is to be deferred in the event of difficulties in concluding a license for the use of audiovisual works on video platforms. demand between the subjects operating in the sector and the holders of rights. The transparency obligations that allow authors, performers and performers to obtain from the concessionaire or licensee, at least quarterly, updated and complete information on the exploitation and execution of their works are also important.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/che-cosa-cambiera-sul-diritto-dautore-e-chi-sbuffa/ on Fri, 06 Aug 2021 06:13:08 +0000.