EU Commission About to Propose Re-Casting of Copyright Law.
The EU Commission considers to propose to re-cast, inter alia, the Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs in 2006. Recast ist said to be done with a view to improve the coherence and operation of the legal framework and adapt it to the new digital challenges. I currently have no clue as to what that means in terms of practical politics.
What also might be affected by this re-casting initiative are:
Council Directive 92/100/EEC of 19 November 1992 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property;
Council Directive 93/83/EEC of 27 September 1993 on the coordination of certain rules concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission;
Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights;
Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament; and
Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society.
The paper further says that Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark, and subsequent amendments: Regulation 3288/94, Regulation 1653/2003, Regulation 807/2003, Regulation 1992/2003 and Regulation 422/2004, might need "codification" - whatever that means.
The EU Commission's justification is as follows:
"[...] The review of the acquis must become a continuous and systematic process enabling the legislator to revise legislation taking all legitimate private sector and public interests into account.
To start the process, an initial batch of legislation to be simplified has been identified on the basis of a broad consultation. This continuous process will then be fuelled by input from new, more systematic review procedures for the identification of future simplification priorities based on a broad analysis of the impact of legislation. This process encompasses a thorough economic analysis and will take full account of the EU’s social and environmental ambitions as essential elements of the overarching objective of sustainable development set out in the Treaty. [...]"
considers to propose to re-cast, inter alia, the Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs in 2006. Recast ist said to be done with a view to improve the coherence and operation of the legal framework and adapt it to the new digital challenges. I currently have no clue as to what that means in terms of practical politics.