European Directive on Copyright Adopted. Where To Next?
By LIBER, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the European Bureau of Library Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA), the European University Association (EUA) and SPARC Europe.
Following the European Parliament’s adoption of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market on 26 March 2019, the Council of Ministers of the European Union has now also voted in favour of the text.
The text will enter into force in the coming weeks, once it is published in the Official Journal. This will be followed by a period of two years in which Member States must make the relevant changes to national laws.
Libraries in Europe have engaged strongly in shaping this important piece of legislation to ensure that it fulfils its promise of harmonising Europe’s copyright law and updating it to the digital environment. We have benefitted from the constant support of a number of Members of the European Parliament, whose work has allowed major progress to be made.
There is much to be celebrated for libraries, universities and cultural heritage institutions in the new law, yet discussions are far from over. Work at the national level will be essential if Europe’s libraries are to get the best out of this legislative text has to offer.
LIBER, along with fellow regional and international library and research organisations, looks forward to guiding and supporting our libraries with this task. We are already planning a webinar on this topic, and will follow up in other ways in the months to come.
In order to follow the process with us, you may want to join one of the following mailing lists:
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