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Copyright laws across the EU risk becoming irrelevant unless a single digital market is created, Neelie Kroes has warned.
Speaking at the University of Amsterdam, Kroes, the vice-president of the European Commission responsible for the digital agenda, said a “sound EU copyright system ... should enable a digital single market”.
She gave numerous examples of the restrictions that the existing copyright framework put on teachers who may be afraid to share material online, or when consumers want to purchase films from other jurisdictions but find they are “geo-blocked”.
Kroes said: “Every day citizens here in the Netherlands and across the EU break the law just to do something commonplace, concluding that “copyright risks becoming an irrelevance”.
“The internet gives enormous opportunities for artists and consumers. More direct access to a wider audience, and a wider range of content. New ways to share, spread, sell. New ways to reward and recognise. New ways for audiences to appreciate—getting what they want, when they want it.
“A good copyright system would help us achieve that. Today’s does not,” she added.
copyright law; single digital market; Neelie Kroes.
