Press releases
On 12 November 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on a case between Hewlett-Packard Belgium and Reprobel, the Belgian collecting society responsible for the collection and distribution among authors and publishers of legal licence remunerations. The case related to reprography schemes in Belgium. The Court ruled that – since publishers are not considered as rightsholders under European copyright law – they are not considered to suffer harm and therefore are not entitled to compensation.
In Belgium, there is dual compensation system, in which a compensation is due both in relation to reproduction devices and the reproductions themselves. These levies on the printers are then distributed to both authors and publishers, since the Belgian system foresees publishers as rightsholders, which differs from European law.
This ruling clearly shows the need for a clarification in the European copyright framework to explicitly acknowledge publishers as rightsholders in view of their content. A statement from the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO), which counts EMMA amongst its members, underlines “the urgent need of clarification” in EU copyright law. IFFRO calls on the European Commission and European Parliament to review the 2001 Copyright Directive “with an aim of maintaining fair and adequate compensation for both authors and publishers for usages of their works and publications made under said exceptions.” Additionally, IFRRO says that the review should have the aim to create a “robust legal framework” that would “provide stability and legal certainty to IFRRO members with an aim of maintaining a system that been successful for so many years in a whole series of EU member states in providing free access to copyrighted works and at the same time fairly compensating authors and publishers.”
EMMA joins IFRRO in calling for the protection of press publishers’ rights in the reform of the European copyright directive by explicitly acknowledging publishers as rightsholders.
For further information contact:
Karin Fleming
EMMA Communications Manager
karin.fleming@magazinemedia.eu
+32 2 536 0607
The European Magazine Media Association, is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms, encompassing both paper and digital formats.
