User:Stevie Benton (WMUK)/Sandbox/Challenging the Cavada Amendment
On Tuesday 16 June 2015, as a part of the ongoing work around copyright reform the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament voted on the Own Initiative Report by Julia Reda. This report outlined recommendations to copyright reform in Europe. The full name of the document is "Report on the Implementation of Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society."
As a part of this the committee voted through Amendment 421 (proposed by Jean-Marie Cavada of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe). The amendment states:
"16. Considers that the commercial use of photographs, video footage or other images of works which are permanently located in physical public places should always be subject to prior authorisation from the authors or any proxy acting for them."
While this isn't legally binding at this point we need to do everything we can to make sure that this doesn't get included in any final legislation as it would, to all intents and purposes, spell the end of Freedom of Panorama in the European Union. Please use the space below to make suggestions and drafts, or any notes that will help us take action to halt this disastrous amendment.
General plan
- Plenary vote (i.e. first opportunity to stop this) on 9th of July.
- We need a smooth new amendment text to pitch to MEPs.
- We need around 10 popular MEPs from different groups and countries to co-sign it.
- We need a media campaign that makes the issue pressing for MEPs. The problem now was that FoP became a bargaining chip.
Possible new amendment
16. Invites the EU legislator to recognise that the use of photographs, video footage or other images of works which are permanently located in public places is permitted.
or
16. Considers that the commercial use of photographs, video footage or other images of works which are permanently located in physical public places should always be permitted subject to prior authorisation from the authors or any proxy acting for them.
MEPs to contact
- UK: Claude Moraes (S&D), Vicky Ford (ECR)
- DE: Reul (EPP), Niebler (EPP), Voss (EPP), Gebhardt (S&D), Köster (S&D)
- PL: Buzek (EPP), Boni (EPP), Gierek (S&D), Czarnecki (ECR), Czesak (ECR)
- IT:
Partners
- English Heritage. They have published books covering the architecture of modern listed buildings. I could contact the author. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 18:33, 16 June 2015 (BST)
- Royal Photographic society. Members are not going to be happy to have their rights restricted. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 18:33, 16 June 2015 (BST)