EU To Consider Proposal For Cross-Border Net Copyright

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

07 May 2009

The European Parliament is getting set to review a proposal from two Commissioners, which, if approved, would end the complex set of copyright laws relating to digital media sales currently in place across Europe.

The Commissioners - Viviane Reding, the European telecommunications and media commissioner, and Meglena Kuneva, the consumer affairs commissioner of the bloc - have outlined a plan to replace current copyright laws with one single, cross-border piece of legislation which would give all European consumers unrestricted access to the purchase of digital music, games and video online.

The complexity of the copyright laws in place at present make it virtually impossible for European consumers to shop online outside of the country in which they live. The new law would abolish this restriction, giving European citizens the right to shop online in any of the EU's 27 nations.

The plan is currently being outlined in Strasbourg, where the Commissioners are hoping to gain enough support to begin establishing the proposal this year. Of their plan, the duo stated:

"The offer of content online is growing more and more but the current regime is still locked into national territorial licensing, with the result that EU consumers are often prevented from legally watching content anytime, anywhere and on any platform."

Recommended