The European
Commission has launched an initiative called “Licence for Europe” aiming to
bring together stakeholders in the creative and cultural sector to find a
practical solution to remove barriers to access copyright protected materials
online. Stakeholders, including the EFJ, had its first meeting to discuss the
main issues at stake.
One of the
main issues discussed concerns user-generated content (UGC) online which is currently growing in the sector. These contents can consist in adapting existing protected works such
as photographs for creating a new content. While the European commission
provides no definition of UGC for the time being and expects stakeholders to
come up with suggestions it intends to legalise the access to and usage
of user-generated content by the public as well as companies. The EFJ stressed that there is a
need for a strict definition for UGC to prevent journalistic content from
falling into the category. The EFJ said that any use of copyrighted content
should be remunerated fairly. The EFJ further highlighted the ethical
issue over the use of user-generated content and the need to enforce the moral
rights of journalists.
The next
meeting will take place in Brussels on 5 March. As a member of the
Licence for Europe stakeholder dialogue, the EFJ will continue to participate
in the dialogue and make sure the interests of journalists is voiced.