LIBER Speaks to the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI)

One of LIBER’s key objectives for 2017 is to work with the European Parliament towards European copyright reforms that support research and innovation. 

With this in mind, LIBER was pleased to be invited to speak to the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) on 22 March 2017. Maria Rehbinder, University of the Arts Helsinki and Vice Chair of the LIBER Working Group on Copyright, spoke on behalf of LIBER at the session.

“Text and data mining is desperately needed by everybody in the European Union and if you go to where the European Commission starts, from the Lisbon Treaty, there it is clearly said that research is not just for universities. Research is meant to foster innovation and the economic growth of Europe. With the draft we have that, so great thanks to the rapporteur. It’s really going in the right direction,” said Maria.

Rehbinder was referring to the draft report written by Rapporteur Therese Comodini Cachia MEP on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright in the Digital Single Market.

“There is no legal protection anywhere for information and for knowledge, There is freedom of knowledge, freedom of information. And that is what democracy, research and everything we respect is based on. So this has to be kept in mind. And we have to make sure that the whole of the European Union is not made to lift publishers that are having problems with the digitalisation and the new uses of data,” Rehbinder added.

Amendments to the draft report are being accepted until 12 April, after which the report and the amendements will be debated again and voted upon before going to all MEPs for a final vote.