European Parliament calls for single copyright licence

The European Parliament has called on the European Commission to create a single pan-European digital licence for intellectual property rights to help combat the growing problem of piracy.

The recommendation was delivered by French MEP Marielle Gallo, who said that the Parliament does not share the Commission's view that current legal frameworks are doing enough to stop breaches of copyright.

Gallo wants the Commission to create a single EU-wide copyright licence for products like music, books and films to achieve a harmonisation on copyright law and protect the creative industries.

"Parliament is of the opinion that the possibility of proceeding against infringers of intellectual property rights should be created in the European legal framework," she said.

"The enormous growth of unauthorised file sharing of copyrighted works is an increasing problem for the European economy in terms of job opportunities and revenues for the industry as well as for government."

MEPs also want the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement to take account of Parliament's position on these issues, and to adhere to EU rules on intellectual property and fundamental rights.

The Commission has been asked to set up intellectual property rights helpdesks in countries such as India and Russia to assist European entrepreneurs in enforcing copyright laws and preventing counterfeit goods entering the EU.

"The biggest challenge for the internal market lies in combating infringements of intellectual property rights at the EU's external borders and in third countries," said Gallo.

The MEPs claim that there is not enough hard data on the extent of intellectual property breaches, and have called for independent studies before any new legislation is proposed.

Finally, the recommendation suggests that legitimate private copies of digital material should be exempt from any action on intellectual property.

Robin Fry, a legal expert on digital copyright issues at law firm Beachcroft LLP, believes that an EU-wide system for copyright could work, but will be hard to implement.

"It would be a painful exercise to initiate because there might be different copyright holders in different countries. And what's possible as free use in some countries might not be applicable elsewhere," he said.

"If these licences come in, however, we'll see attrition in the number of copyright collecting societies. Why do we need 26 separate authors' licensing bodies, many hopelessly inefficient, when one or two could cover all Europe?"