Since the announcement on 6 June that the Council and European Parliament had reached agreement on the draft Directive establishing the Electronic Communications Code (the “Code”), the communications and competition communities have been on tenterhooks to see what the final version of the text contains.
The draft Code has been in the pipeline for almost two years and is part … Continue Reading
On 25 May 2018, after months of discussions, the EU Council’s Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) finally agreed its position on the draft Copyright Directive (see the official press release here), although it has been suggested that Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Belgium and Hungary did not support it.
The agreed text (read it in full here) will serve … Continue Reading
Reform of EU copyright is the core of the Commission’s Digital Single Market strategy. Various legislative initiatives have been proposed but the “heart” of the reform is without a doubt the proposal for a new copyright directive. While there appears to be a growing consensus on the wording of most articles, a few key provisions remain under debate. In this … Continue Reading
The Portability Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 came into force on 1 April 2018. Part of the EU Commission’s aim to establish a Digital Single Market, the Regulation facilitates cross-border portability of online content. It allows for subscribed content services to “travel” with the subscriber throughout the entire European Union. Be it movies, sport events, music, e-books, online games, they … Continue Reading
In a nutshell: As part of the DSM strategy, the Commission has recently published a series of new proposals impacting platforms and ISPs, including a Recommendation on tackling illegal content online and a draft Regulation on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of e-commerce platforms. In these new documents, the Commission addresses consumer protection, fair competition and notice-and-take-down obligations. … Continue Reading
The trialogue between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Member States on the revision of the Audio-Visual Media Services (AVMS) Directive is currently in progress, after several years of work by all parties to update the text of the Directive. This update is timely, given the profound and rapid changes in how TV and other video content is … Continue Reading
We were delighted and honoured to speak at last week’s lunch event of U.S. Copyright Society (CS USA). The Los Angeles Chapter of the CS USA kindly invited Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte (Brussels), Alberto Bellan (Milan) and myself to sit on a panel together with Susan Cleary, Vice President and General Counsel of the Independent Film & Television Alliance … Continue Reading
The Digital Single Market, as pushed forward with increasing speed by the European institutions, does not end with the click of a “purchase” icon. Goods ordered and bought online need to find their way to the purchaser, be it a consumer or a corporation. This is why the Commission, as part of its overall DSM strategy published a draft regulation … Continue Reading
The European Parliament’s Rapporteur on the draft Copyright Directive (COM (2016) 593), Axel Voss, released proposed amendments to Article 11 and its corresponding recitals at the end of March. Mr Voss’s draft, for the shadow Rapporteurs on the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), introduces a number of remarkable suggested changes, which diverge significantly from the Bulgarian … Continue Reading
The copyright reform is one of the core pillars of the EU Commissions endeavor to create a real Digital Single Market within the European Union. However, despite of the first draft of the new Copyright Directive (COM (2016) 593 final) having been published some time ago (14 September 2016) the EU institutions seem to have difficulties in getting … Continue Reading
The reform of European Copyright law is at the heart of the European Commission’s efforts to create a true Digital Single Market. The new draft Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market (“Copyright Directive“, COM (2016) 593) dates back to 14 September 2016. Whilst with many provisions of the draft Directive the final wording has been … Continue Reading
This year’s Easter holiday brings with it a further milestone in the Commission’s endeavor to bring about a truly Digital Single Market: The Portability Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 comes into force on 1 April 2018. The Regulation facilitates cross-border portability of online content. It allows for subscribed content services to “travel” with the subscriber throughout the entire European Union. … Continue Reading
Some time ago now, the European Commission launched an initiative to improve transparency and regulate the cross-border parcel delivery sector as part of its aspiration to create a real Digital Single Market. Clearly, no pan-European online market can exist without a functioning delivery system covering the entirety of the Union. A draft regulation on this subject was first published … Continue Reading
The new provision on the banning of unjustified geoblocking in online sales is at the heart of the EU Commission’s aspiration and effort to create a real Digital Single Market within the European Union.
The term “geoblocking” stands for any type of technical or contractual discrimination based on the nationality or residence of a customer. It is a common phenomenon … Continue Reading
On 16 January 2018, the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council sought guidance from the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) regarding the long-debated Draft Copyright Directive. The queries focused on two issues that are still controversial: the introduction of an ancillary copyright for press publishers (Article 11 of the draft) and the establishment of new monitoring obligations for certain … Continue Reading
The regulation on measures against unjustified geo-blocking is close to become binding law. After the European institutions had reached a compromise on some last open issues in last November, the European Parliament approved the revised draft regulation in its plenary session on Tuesday. The billed sailed through with 557 to 89 votes and 33 abstentions (press release). This … Continue Reading
| DSM – What is it about?
In 2018, we will see new EU legislation being widely implemented as part of the EU Commission’s Digital Single Market (DSM) Strategy. The amendments to the current legal framework are far reaching and will potentially be game changing. Some of the key areas to be affected will be: |
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The evolution of a new neighbouring right for press publishers is currently the subject of wide and heated debate. The European Commission proposed such a right in Article 11 of its proposal for a new directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market (Draft Copyright Directive – COM(2016) 593 final). The European Parliament’s first approach to this proposed … Continue Reading
2018 will be another dramatic year for TMT. Our job is to help TMT businesses to chart a course through by bringing together the insights of over 800 lawyers who focus on the sector across six continents. That is why we have asked some of our top thinkers globally to provide a snapshot of their vision for the coming year. … Continue Reading
Drama at the European Parliament: whoever thought the dispute within the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) around the adoption of a new regulation dealing with online transmissions by broadcasters and retransmissions (COM(2016) 594 final) could not become more exciting when JURI voted on its final report at the end of November, was wrong. The rapporteur Tiemo Wölken made … Continue Reading
On Tuesday 14 November the Hogan Lovells DSM Taskforce (our dedicated pan-EU team of lawyers tracking the Commission’s DSM strategy) had its annual live meeting in Brussels to discuss the progress of the implementation of the DSM strategy and key forthcoming developments. The team held a webinar on the status of the strategy and what to expect in 2018 in … Continue Reading
The EU Commission announced its Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy in May 2015. Since then, plenty of draft directives and regulations have been put on the table. Many of those will be enacted within the next weeks and months. The EU Parliament and Council are currently in the process of agreeing on last amendments to the Commission’s proposals, … Continue Reading
The European copyright reform is underway. The heart of this process clearly is the draft for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (COM 2016(593) final). The draft is and the proposed amendments to it are currently being considered by the European Parliament. The debate is led by the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI). It was anticipated that … Continue Reading
In our 18 July blog we reported the then recently published key dates for compliance with the EU online Portability Regulation. Following a correction published in the EU Official journal on 28 July 2017, those deadlines have been pushed back by just under two weeks. A revised version of our blog post is below, with the new deadlines added.
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