IS THE NEW GERMAN COPYRIGHT LAW A BASKET CASE?

The Register reports that Germany’s plans to implement the EU Copyright Directive have met with considerable domestic criticism. Legislation concerning the first part of the Directive was recently enacted in order to comply with the EU deadline for implementation; however the controversial issue of anticircumvention mechanisms was left out. This is to be addressed in the forthcoming “second basket” of copyright laws. The fear though is that the anticircumvention provisions will rule out the current right to make private copies and to make other uses that would be considered fair use under traditional copyright law, such as use by journalists. As the proposal currently stands, rights-holders also will not need to provide access to schools, libraries and the disabled for one year.

The IPKat is worried by the lack of mandatory fair-use type provisions in the circumvention sections of the EU Copyright Directive. The effects of this will be felt in all the Member States of the EU. Particularly worrying is the impact that this will have on educational use – a much relied-upon but seldom litigated copyright defence . The IPKat notes that all of the Member States of the EU are signatories to the Berne Convention, which expressly calls for specific fair use exceptions to copyright and wonders whether the Copyright Directive is in compliance.

Baskets here, here, here and here