The European Commission's Licences for Europe stakeholder dialogue concluded in Brussels earlier this month with a number of pledges to help European citizens overcome barriers to the circulation of content in the digital age.

It focused on four areas: cross-border access and portability of services; user-generated content and micro-licensing; audiovisual heritage; and text and data mining.

Key pledges include:

  • Working to improve cross-border portability of audiovisual services, enabling consumers to legally access films and TV programmes from their member states when travelling in Europe.
  • Introducing multi-territory "one-click micro-licences" for the small-scale use of music online, which should provide legal certainty to those using music on their own websites or posting videos to other sites.
  • Improving availability of e-books across borders and across devices.
  • An agreement on principles and procedures for the digitisation and dissemination of heritage films, thus protecting old films which are unavailable online or might otherwise disappear.

The Licences for Europe initiative began in February 2013 and involved over thirty meetings with stakeholders across various industries, including the music and video game sectors, internet service providers, technology companies and consumers. It has run in conjunction with the EC's review of copyright laws. A decision will be made next year as to whether the EC considers legal reform is required.

There has been some criticism that a number of working groups failed to reach any agreement and the practical impact of the pledges remains to be seen.

However, we would agree with the assessment of Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes: "If the industry can put these commitments into practice, we will see more incremental progress towards content licensing fit for the digital age".

Further information can be found in the EC's press release and FAQs.

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