September 19, 2016

Commenting on the publication of the Commission’s copyright reform package, Stephen Lotinga, Chief Executive of the Publishers Association, said: “This is a sensible set of proposals which recognises the role of both publisher and author within the copyright framework”. 

Mr Lotinga noted that, in a number of areas such as education and text and data mining the Commission has listened to the concerns of businesses and the UK government on the need to balance any further copyright exceptions for public policy reasons with a recognition of the legitimate interests of rights holders, with the UK framework being regarded as best practice.

Mr Lotinga also noted that the proposals are “the beginning of a process” and that the PA will want to see “much greater clarity about the exact intention behind certain definitions and a stronger evidence base as to why certain changes are needed at all”.  In Mr Lotinga’s view, it is “disappointing that the Commission choose not to extend the publishers related right to all types of publishers without any real explanation”.

In conclusion, Mr Lotinga said, “Our main ask to the Commission was to ensure that whatever reforms were proposed at an EU level would still enable the strong UK system to continue and we believe that has been achieved in the main here”.  To read the PA’s press release in full, click here.