DisCo readers may remember that, last February, my colleagues Matt Schruers and Jakob Kucharczyk explained that Europe’s highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), would have to rule on a case about hyperlinks that could decide the fate of the World Wide Web in Europe. They were not joking around. Well, yesterday the CJEU published its…

Today, Public Knowledge released a report examining the role of regulatory capture—both its sources and its consequences—at the U.S. Copyright Office. You can download the report, “Captured: Systemic Bias at the U.S. Copyright Office,” here. Regulatory capture occurs when a government agency is consistently or repeatedly directed away from the public interest and toward the interests of the regulated industry….

Today we’re releasing our newest report, “Captured: Systemic Bias at the U.S. Copyright Office.” This report examines the role of industry capture and the revolving door between the major entertainment industries and the Copyright Office, and the implications that capture has had on the policies the Office embraces. In the report, we investigate how the Copyright Office: Regularly contorts basic…

Brussels, BELGIUM — Today the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) delivered its judgment in the GS Media case (Case C-160/15). The case centered on the question whether hyperlinking to content that has been uploaded illegally constitutes a ‘communication to the public’ which is an exclusive right under EU copyright rules. The case can be considered as a follow-up…

Statewatch recently leaked a draft (PDF) of the European Commission’s Impact Assessment (IA) regarding its proposals to ‘modernise’ copyright in the EU. This leak was followed a few days later by a second: a draft directive mirroring the proposals recommended by the IA. Copyright reform is one part of the Commission’s efforts to develop a Digital Single Market (DSM) for…

Mozilla Campaign Pokes Fun At Europe’s Copyright Directive.The Next Web reports that Mozilla has launched a campaign to stop the EU’s copyright directive by using parody videos to poke fun at the proposal’s most absurd ideas like making the sharing of GIFs and memes illegal. The internet company is also encouraging users to “rebel” by posting selfies in front of…

Financial Times Editorial Board: Is EU Copyright Proposal A Case Of Misunderstanding? With the attention focused on the European Commission’s controversial copyright plan, the Financial Times weighed in with a September 20 editorial, Brussels takes a backward step on digital copyright, that questions the commission’s basic understanding stating, “The kindest interpretation would be that the commission has misunderstood the digital…

Engine Announced As Newest Member Of Re:Create Coalition. Evan Engstrom, Executive Director of Engine, announced the group has joined the Re:Create Coalition in a Medium blog post this morning. Founded in 2011, Engine is a policy, advocacy, and research organization supporting startups as an engine for economic growth and is also known for being instrumental in the defeat of SOPA/PIPA…

Europe’s Draft Copyright Proposal Leaves Nobody Happy. “It’s almost as if the [European] Commission is trying to kill off copyright, the press, and the internet, all in one proposal,” copyright lawyer Remy Chavannes told Politico amidst continuing news coverage of the European Commission’s proposed copyright directive. Yelp’s head of public policy, Kostas Rossoglou, added, “The leaked EU copyright ‘reform’ proposal…

From when the first period bell rings, to mid-term exams and musical recitals, the principle of fair use is a regular part of life at school. And, its prevalence is expanding as more teaching and learning is done online. So, as students and teachers begin the 2016-2017 school year, Re:Create developed an infographic to demonstrate the many different ways they…