Report on the review of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive / Targeted initiative for a better copyright environment for European creativity and innovation

Copyright is no longer solely a cultural policy issue. In a digital and knowledge-based economy, copyright is also a central issue for competitiveness, innovation, scaling, and the functioning of the Single Market.

As an intellectual property right, copyright has a totally different position for business than most other rights. Not all businesses apply for patent protection; it is not a tool for all types of business. Not all businesses apply for trade mark protection, simply because they do not need trade marks as a tool to communicate with the market. And yet again, not all businesses work with design in such a way that applying for design protection would make any sense.

However, it is safe to argue that there is no business in Europe today that does not have to consider copyright protection and this for many various reasons. If a company is using some kind of digital tool for their accounting, they are likely to have a copyright licensing agreement on the software. Many businesses, no matter how small, use social media. In their posts they may incorporate copyright protected texts and photographs. Even the most technical or service-oriented companies do have to consider copyright, whether it is drawings made by a technical consultant in relation to a technical solution or paying to play music for the customers.

These perspectives are often lost in the discussions on copyright. It is more often discussed as an issue of protection for creative industries and the use done by digital tech giants.

The problem for European competitiveness is not primarily the existence or level of copyright protection as such, but the fragmentation, legal uncertainty and divergent implementation across Member States.