In mid-May, the EU directive regulating copyright in the digital single market was published in the European Union’s Official Journal. The final and concrete extent of the new rights and duties will only be known once Czech legislators adopt the respective amendments to Czech laws. The directive sets the deadline for this at 7 June 2021.
Both the negotiations and the approval of the final wording of the directive have been on the front pages of Czech and foreign newspapers more than once. Unfortunately, the heated and often escalated debate somewhat obscured the content itself, as much of the talk was about the most controversial Articles 11 and 13 (now 15 and 17). Yet in total, the directive contains 32 articles that cover many other aspects of copyright.
First dealt with are the new exceptions from copyright: research organisations and cultural heritage institutions will be allowed to make copies for the purpose of text and data mining. This has to be for scientific research purposes; commercial use or mining by commercial entities is not allowed under the directive.
Furthermore, the directive stipulates certain tools to provide for wider access to copyright-protected contents. If you have difficulties negotiating a licence to make a movie available on the internet, for instance within your internet TV, you should have the possibility to use the assistance of an impartial body or mediator. The directive also specifies that it is not possible to limit the use of digital copies of works of visual art whose term of protection has already expired: this provision will among others affect online digital galleries that show digital copies of famous works of visual art.
The directive also introduces measures to achieve a well-functioning marketplace for copyright: among others, mentioned Articles 15 and 17 regulating press publishers’ rights concerning the online use of their content and the use of protected content by online content-sharing services. And these are not the only measures introduced by the directive in this area.
Member states shall ensure that authors and performers who provide the licence are entitled to receive appropriate and proportionate remuneration. It is unclear how this duty is to be reflected in Czech law: currently, a licence can already be provided free of charge or for consideration, and it is fully up to the contracting parties, what variant they choose and what remuneration they agree on. Member states shall also ensure that authors and performers receive, at least once a year, relevant and comprehensive information on the exploitation of their works and performances from the parties to whom they have licensed or transferred their rights. Of course, we just have to wait and see how this duty will be implemented in Czech law; but it is obvious that the users of the works and performances will face increased administrative duties in this respect.