Mixed reaction to vote on copyright

Date: 11/02/1999

By Peter Chapman

THE European Parliament won lavish praise from EU publishers and provoked a storm of protest from consumer groups, and telecoms and information technology firms this week by voting in favour of tough on-line copyright rules.

MEPs supported controversial moves to give artistes, record companies and publishers legal protection for the technical measures they use to thwart copying of their works.

They also backed moves to ensure member states set up schemes to pay rights-holders for all other unscrambled copies of their work, either analogue or digital.

Angela Mills, director of the European Publishers' Council, said this approach was "absolutely crucial". But critics claim the private copying clampdown would stop legitimate copying of works to play back later.

Ursual Pachl, legal adviser to the EU consumer lobby BEUC, said the MEPs' decision, if supported by governments, would give industry a "blank cheque, by handing over all control of private copying", and make consumers "criminals in their own homes".

MEPs also angered Union telecom network operators and IT firms by supporting tough rules on temporary copying. They complain that the move would force them to ensure each temporary copy transferred over their networks was authorised by the rights-holder.

Elizabeth Crossick, EU advisor to MCI WorldCom, said this would mean that telecoms operators would only carry material from well-known major players on their networks. She said this would squeeze out new writers and artistes "because we couldn't be sure that they were not in breach of copyright".

EU internal market ministers will consider the proposals later this year, ahead of a second reading in Parliament.

Reaction to the EP vote to give artists, record companies and publishers legal protection for the technical measures they use to thwart copying of their works.