EU politician: European Commission wants to apply copyright rules to links
The European Commission wants to make links subject to copyright rules next year, claims a German member of the European Parliament. A document to which she refers states that the Commission wants to clearly define what exactly counts as new disclosure and what does not.
According to Julia Reda, who sits in the European Parliament on behalf of the German variant of the Pirate Party, the plans as they appear from the document can only mean that the European Commission wants to equate links to copyrighted content with a new disclosure. Linking to publicly accessible copyrighted information would therefore require permission from copyright holders. This would mean that Google News, for example, is no longer allowed to refer to articles that newspapers themselves have put online without permission.
The passage invoked by Reda is contained in a document that IPKat put online last week, in which the European Commission sets out what matters it will be dealing with next year. According to Reda, the Commission will put the document in its final form online in a month’s time. The document states that the Commission wants to look into copyright law. “In this context, the Commission will consider whether action is needed to define a communication to the public and make it available.” By that communication to the public, the Commission is referring to new disclosures, which require consent. “The Commission will take into account the various factors beyond copyright that influence this situation to ensure consistent and effective policy action.”
The Commission itself has not yet commented on the matter. It is unknown what the consequences would be if the European Commission does decide that a link to copyrighted material counts as new disclosure and in what form that will be enforced.
The document published online is a new step in the ongoing discussion about the application of copyright on the internet. Commissioner Oettinger previously said that companies such as Google should pay a copyright fee.