Restrictive copyright laws in Europe
Copyright is often used as a means to suppress or censor content online. The EU Information Society Directive allows for exceptions, for example in cases of parody or citation, serving to protect freedom of expression. However, as some EU Member States have transferred this directive into their national law, additional restrictions have been applied, limiting users’ rights online, including their right to share information.
Working with Defesa dos Direitos Digitais (Portugal), Homo Digitalis (Greece), Centrum Cyfrowe (Poland), and ApTI (Romania), Digital Republic are researching and then selecting the most strategic case(s) to challenge the lack of robust exceptions to copyright law enforcement.
Restrictive copyright laws in Europe
Organisation Name
Digital Republic Bulgaria, with Defesa dos Direitos Digitais, Homo Digitalis, Centrum Cyfrowe, and Association for Technology and Internation (ApTI)
Country/Jurisdiction
Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Romania
Amount Granted
EUR 44,084
Current Status
Ongoing
Grant type
Pre-Litigation Research
Description
Copyright is often used as a means to suppress or censor content online. The EU Information Society Directive allows for exceptions, for example in cases of parody or citation, serving to protect freedom of expression. However, as some EU Member States have transferred this directive into their national law, additional restrictions have been applied, limiting users’ rights online, including their right to share information.
Working with Defesa dos Direitos Digitais (Portugal), Homo Digitalis (Greece), Centrum Cyfrowe (Poland), and ApTI (Romania), Digital Republic are researching and then selecting the most strategic case(s) to challenge the lack of robust exceptions to copyright law enforcement.
Following the research, they plan to take litigation, seeking a ruling that placing further restrictions on some exceptions under the EU Information Society Directive is not permissible.
"As some EU Member States have transferred this directive into their national law, additional restrictions have been applied, limiting users’ rights online, including their right to share information"
Strategic Goal
To ensure that copyright exceptions are not narrowed to prohibit the rights of internet users across the EU to freedom of expression and access to information.