The deadline for Member States to adopt the new EU rules on copyright into national law has now expired. The new copyright directive protects creativity in the digital age, with concrete benefits for citizens, creative sectors, the press, researchers, educators and cultural heritage institutions across the EU. At the same time, thanks to the new directive on television and radio programmes, it will be easier for European broadcasters to make certain programmes available across borders on their online services. The Commission has also published its guidelines today on Article 17 of the new copyright directive, which provides for new rules on content-sharing platforms.
The two Directives, which entered into force in June 2019, aim to update EU copyright rules and will enable consumers and creators to make the best use of the digital world, in which streaming music services, on-demand video platforms, satellite and IPTV television, news aggregators and content platforms uploaded by users have become the main access points to creative works and press articles. The new rules will stimulate the creation and dissemination of more high-value content and will make it possible to make greater use of digital in key sectors of society, while safeguarding freedom of expression and other fundamental rights. Through transposition into national law, EU citizens and businesses can start to benefit from it.
The Digital Single Market Copyright Directive provides for new rules to ensure fairer remuneration for creators and rightsholders, newspaper publishers and journalists, in particular when their works are used online, as well as making their relationships with online platforms more transparent. It also provides new safeguards to fully protect the online freedom of expression of EU citizens, who can legitimately share their content. Moreover, new rules create additional opportunities to use copyright-protected material online and across borders for education, research and conservation of cultural heritage.