European Union IP Policy

The European Union has many policy intiatives related to the Internet, ecommerce and online content or copyright. In fact, there are so many, it is frequently difficult to keep up with them. In this section, I report on Internet-related matters within the EU institutions - European Commisission, Council and Parliament - and the activites of the key policy-makers.

Specific policies which are under consideration, such as the IPR enforcement directive and IP or copyright enforcement initiatives, are reported in a dedicated section. Similarly, the section on Internet Threats looks at any other EU policy initiatives which imply Internet blocking for any other purpose.

Set-back to copyright term extension “un-bloody-believable”

Monica Horten

Published on 28 March 2009

Copyright term extension plans on hold. Czech Presidency proposal rejected by Council bureaucrats. British music industry unhappy with UK government. Signs of rift between Ministries.

Proposals to extend the term of copyright protection for performing artists from 50 to 90 years got a serious setback last night in Brussels and they appear to be on hold until after the European elections at least. The British music industry has reacted sharply to the news - an unnamed executive is reported as saying it is "un-bloody- believable"!

It is not entirely clear what has happened, but early reports indicate that a meeting of COREPER - this is the group of civil servants who work for the Council of Ministers - have thrown out a

Lambrinidis report: pro-copyright changes rejected

Monica Horten

Published on 26 March 2009

Pro-copyright amendments to the Lambrinidis report were rejected yesterday by the European Parliament by an overwhelming majority. The result is positive for the Parliament's support of fundamental freedoms on the Internet.

Today in the European Parliament, a report on strengthening fundamental freedoms on the Internet was adopted by a massive majority of 481 to 25, with 21 abstentions. Six amendments filed by MEPs known to favour the interests of the copyright industries were rejected.

The Lambrinidis report is concerned with security on the Internet and protecting fundamental freedoms, addressing concepts such as ‘digital identity'. It condemns censorship and concludes with a request to the Council of Ministers, to take steps to align the laws of the 27 EU countries in respect of protection of fundamental rights on the Internet and to undertake more policy dialogue between legislators, the courts, the network operators and the users.

The result is positive for the European Parliament, which is wrestling internally with

Medina report indefinitely abandoned

Monica Horten

Published on 22 February 2009

The Medina report has been indefinitely postponed, and may be shelved forever, according to reports emerging from the European Parliament.

The controversial Medina report, which attempted to get the European Parliament to vote in favour of graduated response, has been postponed. It is understood that it has been removed from the European Parliament's agenda, at least until after the European elections and possibly forever. The sources for this information are apparently the administrative staff in the

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Iptegrity.com is the website of Dr Monica Horten, independent policy writer and Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics & Political Science. She was shortlisted for The Guardian Open Internet Poll 2012. Iptegrity offers expert insights into Internet policy. Iptegrity is read by lawyers, academics, policy-makers and citizens, and cited in the media. Please acknowledge Iptegrity when you cite or link. For more, see IP politics with integrity