[FYI] COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

["Axel H Horns" <horns@t-online.de>]

http://ue.eu.int/Newsroom/LoadDoc.cfm?MAX=1&DOC=!!!&BID=88&DID=61701&G
RP=2522&LANG=1#_Toc483976917?MAX=1&DOC=!!!&BID=88&DID=61701&GRP=2522&L
ANG=1

---------------------------------- CUT -----------------------------

8829/00 (Presse 180)

PRESS RELEASE 

Subject :

                                 2265th Council meeting

                                  - INTERNAL MARKET -

                                 Brussels, 25 May 2000

 President :

            Mr Francisco SEIXAS da COSTA

            State Secretary for European Affairs of the
            Portuguese Republic

[...]

COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

The Council had an in-depth debate on the proposal for a Directive on 
the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights 
in the Information Society. While progress was made on a number of 
major issues, it was generally agreed that further work was necessary 
before the Council could adopt a common position. The Council invited 
the Permanent Representatives Committee to pursue work on this 
proposal with a view to enabling the Council to reach agreement 
before the end of the Portuguese Presidency.  

The Council's discussions centered on the need to strike the right 
balance between the interests of rightholders (holders of copyrights 
and related rights) on the one hand, and the interests of other 
parties on the other hand (Internet service providers, consumers, 
equipment manufacturers, libraries, publishers, and other 
beneficiaries of exception to rights in the Member States), taking 
into account in particular the possibilities offered by new 
technologies.  

The draft directive seeks to provide a harmonised and appropriate 
legal framework in the Internal Market for copyright and related 
rights in the Information Society. In particular, it seeks to 
harmonise the rights of reproduction, communication, making available 
to the public and distribution of works. Its adoption is also a 
precondition for the Community and its Member States acceding to the 
WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms 
Treaty (WPPT) concluded in December 1996.  

---------------------------------- CUT -----------------------------