Notes for the removal of the reproduction right

Digital technologies and the Internet have reshaped the way content is created, distributed and accessed. The Infosoc Directive dates back to 2001 where Youtube, Facebook and Spotify did not exist and iTunes was about to turn the music industry on its head. In other words, the current European legal framework comes from the analogue world and it has been stretched to fit into the digital age. 

I guess that if the copyright regulation were drafted from scratch to face today’s concerns, the outcome would differ greatly to the regulation currently in place. Now that the Commission is changing, is a good opportunity to review whether the copyright regulation in place is still ‘fit for purpose’ and provides the best possible environment not only for authors, performers and producers but also for disruptive companies willing to offer innovative online content distribution services and/or ‘value added’ services which rely on use of third party content.

Foto del usuario de Flickr Mark Morgan Trinidad A

In particular, I think that the reproduction right should not remain as a stand-alone right but rather be absorbed into the communication to the public right in digital services. There is no doubt that making copies of copyrighted works is necessary for providing online services but it is also clear that these reproductions are ancillary to the public communication of this content and have no real economic value by themselves. Customers wish to enjoy the content and do not understand the rational of being obliged to pay for the act of copying that adds no value for them.

We´ve all been assuming that the reproduction right has an economic value itself and this was probably true three centuries ago when the Statute of Anne was enacted to deal with the disruption posed by printing . Now the situation is completely different and therefore to avoid the complexity related to the application of two rights to the same act of exploitation and in order to facilitate the clearance of rights, I would advocate for the removal of the reproduction right.

It would also have a positive effect which is to avoid all the endless discussion and complexity regarding private copy levies.

I understand this is something that is difficult to achieve at a European level but may be taken into consideration at WIPO when thinking about the modernization of the international treaties.