19th December 2014 – CREATe director Prof Martin Kretschmer and Investigator Prof Estelle Derclaye are among members of the European Copyright Society (ECS) which has approached the new Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society seeking unification of copyright law in the European Union. Following earlier calls for improvements to EU rules on copyright law the Society emphasised in their open letter to Mr Günther Oettinger that the time was right to develop a European law with uniform and direct applicability across the Union.
The Society cited territoriality associated with the existing national approach to copyright law, causing an associated fragmentation of markets along national boundaries, restricting the emergence of a Digital Single Market for creative content and undermining international competitiveness.
The Society accepted the challenges associated with achieving unification, conceding that it would be a medium to long-term objective, but urged Mr. Oettinger to dismiss the arguments of those equating time-consuming with ‘unrealistic’.
Download the European Copyright Society’s Open Letter to Mr Oettinger.
The demise in the value of television rights for live football has been long predicted. Yet the successive rights deals in the case of the FA Premier League (FAPL) continue to disprove this. The current three year deal that ends shortly was worth £1.78billion.