Brussels, BELGIUM — In September 2016, the European Commission published its proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (the “Copyright Proposal”). This proposal implements filtering systems for user-uploaded content and undermine the liability regime of Internet intermediaries, legal backbone of the European digital sector. This proposal has recently been condemned without appeal by 56 academics, stating that “the corrosive effect of such legislation would be felt across the whole spectrum of relevant services […]. It would render the [limited liability regime] for hosting meaningless, destroy the equilibrium between affected fundamental rights and freedoms, [and] erode the basis for investment in new online services […].”
Therefore, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) welcomes the opinion adopted today by the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) on the Copyright Proposal, which rejects the undermining of the limited liability regime of Internet intermediaries and mandatory filtering systems for user-uploaded content.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Senior Manager, Public Policy, Maud Sacquet:
“CCIA welcomes the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee’s opinion on the Copyright Proposal. This opinion rejects the European Commission’s proposal to undermine the liability of Internet intermediaries and to implement mandatory filtering systems for user-uploaded content. This opinion preserves the internet ecosystem that supports free speech and entrepreneurship online. CCIA urges the European Parliament and the European Council to reject all provisions that undermine the e-Commerce Directive and create new exclusive rights for press publishers.”