EU pushes stronger copyright in TTIP but no exceptions in public interest

Based on intervention made for TACD at TTIP stakeholders plenary July 15th in Brussels

With a clear lack of balance in its approach the EU position in the TTIP negotiations asks for more copyright protections for the renumeration of broadcasters and rights holders but makes no mention of the needs of public interest exceptions for libraries or people with disabiities.

“On copyright, in the EU flagged  the following priorities as areas of offensive interest in the TTIP negotiations: 1) remuneration rights for broadcasting and communication to the public (public performance) for performers and producers in phonograms, 2) a full right of communication to the public (public performance) for authors in bars, restaurants and shops and 3) a resale right for creators of original works of art (Source:EU Position Paper on Intellectual Property, March 2015).” http://keionline.org/node/2281

Sorely missing from this one-sided rights-holder perspective is support for the Marrakesh Treaty for Visually Impaired Persons that permits the cross-border sharing of materials formatted for blind persons around the world. Surprisingly, this copyright and human rights treaty has still not been rartified by the European Union. TTIP could be an opportunity for both the US and the EU to assure swift ratification and implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty.

While the EU is energetically supporting in TTIP and at WIPO a very questionable new layer of copyright protection for broadcasters and their transmissions on the internet (not the content!), it is opposing internationally at WIPO and ignoring in TTIP any progress toward providing copyright flexibilities for the public interest role libraries carry out for preservation and dessemination of science, culture and education.

This monochrome EU copyright strategy for TTIP reflects a total lack of equilibrium between IPR protection and the right to culture of consumers and citizens as a whole.