European Commission copyright consultation/Teaching

Access to libraries and archives

European Commission copyright consultation Teaching

Research

The European Commission is considering modernizing European copyright laws. To get feedback and input on this modernization, the Commission has published a series of questions, and is looking to interested stakeholders (like our community) to answer them. This is a vital opportunity to participate in a dialogue that could have a major impact on copyright laws and the future of the free knowledge movement. More background is available from the European Commission. We would like to prepare a draft response here, as a collaborative experiment. If we wish to respond, it will need to be finalized before the end of January 2014 (see the proposed timeline). Welcome to the discussion! Please help by answering the questions below. Return to the table of contents.

Teaching

Directive 2001/29/EC enables Member States to implement in their national legislation limitations and exceptions for the purpose of illustration for non-commercial teaching. Such exceptions would typically allow a teacher to use parts of or full works to illustrate his course, e.g. by distributing copies of fragments of a book or of newspaper articles in the classroom or by showing protected content on a smart board without having to obtain authorisation from the right holders. The open formulation of this (optional) provision allows for rather different implementation at Member States level. The implementation of the exception differs from Member State to Member State, with several Member States providing instead a framework for the licensing of content for certain educational uses. Some argue that the law should provide for better possibilities for distance learning and study at home.

Question 42

42) (a) [In particular if you are an end user/consumer or an institutional user:] Have you experienced specific problems when trying to use works or other subject-matter for illustration for teaching, including across borders?

(b) [In particular if you are a right holder:] Have you experienced specific problems resulting from the way in which works or other subject-matter are used for illustration for teaching, including across borders?

Yes

• Your name here

No

• Your name here

No opinion

• Your name here

Comments

Instructions: If yes, please explain.

• ...

Proposed Foundation answer

Based on the Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU suggestions, I propose the following answer for the official Foundation response: —LVilla (WMF) (talk) 02:31, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

A major goal of the Wikimedia project is to create teaching materials that can be used across all borders, and many Wikimedia editors are also consumers of teaching materials. The lack of standardization amongst the Member States in all areas of copyright (including the teaching exception) makes creating licenses that apply similarly across all the Member States extremely difficult. We are lucky to benefit from the tenacious work of Creative Commons in this area, reducing the direct consequences for us as a publisher, but our editors may not be able to benefit from such consistency when they are seeking to use existing educational materials.

Question 43

43) If there are problems, how would they best be solved?

Responses

[Open question]

• ...

Proposed Foundation answer

Based on the Creativity4Copyright suggestions, I propose the following answer for the official Foundation response: —LVilla (WMF) (talk) 02:35, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Our licenses explicitly note that copyright exceptions, such as the teaching exception, should be respected. To make this exception most effective, the existing educational exception should be broadened and made mandatory for all Member States. This mandatory educational exception should cover all uses of all types of works for illustration of teaching, regardless of whether the use is institutional or private, and regardless of the institution. It is important to stress that uses of computer programs, databases and multimedia works (such as video games) should be expressly included.

Question 44

44) What mechanisms exist in the market place to facilitate the use of content for illustration for teaching purposes? How successful are they?

Responses

[Open question]

• ...

Proposed Foundation answer

Based on the lack of comments above or from the Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU, I propose not answering this question. —LVilla (WMF) (talk) 02:38, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Question 45

45) If your view is that a legislative solution is needed, what would be its main elements? Which activities of the beneficiary institutions should be covered and under what conditions?

Responses

[Open question]

• Reproduction and modification of works for educational uses should be free. --NaBUru38 (talk) 14:35, 11 January 2014 (UTC)
• ...

Proposed Foundation answer

Based on NaBUru38's comment above and the C4C suggestions, I propose the following answer for the official Foundation response: —LVilla (WMF) (talk) 02:37, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

It should be made explicitly possible for anyone to make works available on-line for educational purposes without restriction, both in original and adapted form.

Question 46

46) If your view is that a different solution is needed, what would it be?

Responses

[Open question]

• ...

Proposed Foundation answer

Based on the answers above and the C4C suggestions, I propose the following answer for the official Foundation response: —LVilla (WMF) (talk) 02:39, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Only a legislative approach can solve the current uncertainties - relying on Member States or private entities to resolve the problem will create a thicket of subtle and unsubtle differences that will be impossible for reasonable teachers to navigate. Therefore, as noted in our answer to questions 43 and 45, the problem would best be solved by making a broad educational exception mandatory for all EU countries.

Next set of questions >>