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CREATe Director Martin Kretschmer speaks at the Rome Bar on ‘Regulating Digital Services and Platforms’

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CREATe Director Martin Kretschmer speaks at the Rome Bar on ‘Regulating Digital Services and Platforms’

By 16 March 2022March 31st, 2022No Comments

On 30 March 2022, CREATe Director Martin Kretschmer will speak at the International and European Law Committee of the Rome Bar (“Consiglio dell’Ordine degli Avvocati di Roma”) about the EU and UK approach in regulating Digital Services and Platforms. The event is co-sponsored by the Law Society of England and Wales and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Italia). Professor Kretschmer’s talk will draw on recent work with the European Copyright Society and the UK AHRC Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre (PEC).

Abstract:

Martin Kretschmer 

Copyright, the Digital Services Act, and the new wave of platform regulation: a UK perspective

The Digital Services Act (DSA) sets out numerous “due diligence” obligations for intermediaries concerning any type of illegal information. Copyright infringing content arguably is illegal content under the DSA, and accounts empirically for most take-down decisions by intermediaries. New rules on notice-and-action (Art. 14), statement of reasons (Art. 15), trusted flaggers (Art. 19), and measures and protection against misuse (Art. 20) add a level of specificity not found in the e-Commerce Directive (ECD), nor in the lex specialis of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive (Art. 17, CDSM).

The UK chose not to implement the CDSM Directive, nor is the infringement of intellectual property rights a relevant offence that triggers new “duty of care” obligations under the Online Safety Bill published on 17 March 2022 (section 52(8)). However, the Bill also abandons the (Art. 15, ECD) prohibition of “general monitoring”, endorsing “proactive technology” and instituting a new regulatory system based on “codes of practice”. Codes of practice are essentially terms of service negotiated between “high-risk, high-reach” platforms and the regulator Ofcom, with significant executive powers for the Secretary of State.

In contrast the proposed EU Digital Services Act only includes vague references to such self- and co-regulatory agreements under Art. 35 (“The Commission and the Board shall encourage and facilitate the drawing up of codes of conduct at Union level to contribute to the proper application of this Regulation”, with a focus on tackling “different types of illegal content and systemic risks”) and under Art. 36 (relating to online advertising).

This talk will discuss opportunities and potential pitfalls for Copyright policy from these emerging Codes. Codes of practice and Codes of conduct imply ongoing revision and flexibility, which makes them a potentially attractive regulatory tool for fast developing industries and markets. Unlike statutes, Codes do not involve a complex legislative procedure. They can be more responsive to changing circumstances.  On the other hand, a Code’s legal standing and enforcement conditions are often uncertain. State functions may be delegated to private firms without democratic scrutiny and appropriate procedural safeguards.

Links:

Programme: International and European Law Committee of the Rome Bar (“Consiglio dell’Ordine degli Avvocati di Roma”) 

ITA/UK CROSS-BORDER ISSUES IN THE POST-BREXIT LEGAL CONTEXT/ “PROBLEMATICHE CROSS-BORDER ITA/UK NEL CONTESTO GIURIDICO POST BREXIT”

30 March 2022, from 15:00 to 17:00 (CEST)

(direct streaming from YouTube channel of the “Ordine degli Avvocati di Roma”)

Welcome address/Indirizzo di saluto

Avv. Antonino Galletti

 Presidente del Consiglio dell’Ordine degli Avvocati di Roma

Presentation/Presentazione

  Avv. Giuseppe Gaglione

Solicitor and Notary Public – England & Wales
Componente Commissione Diritto Europeo ed Internazionale

 

DIGITAL SERVICES AND PLATFORMS IN THE EU AND THE UK: LEGAL ASPECTS/ “SERVIZI E PIATTAFORME DIGITALI IN EU E UK: PROFILI GIURIDICI”

Introduction and moderation/Introduce e modera

Avv. Sofia Marchiafava

Componente Commissione Diritto Europeo ed Internazionale

Speakers/Relatori

Takis Tridimas

Michael Bywell

Fabrizio Di Benedetto

Professore di European Law, Direttore del Centre of European Law, The Dickson Poon School of Law, London

Solicitor England & Wales,

Hausfeld & Co. LLP, London

Co-Chair Commissione Concorrenza

ICC Italia

The Digital Services Act: Fit for Purpose?

UK Online Safety Bill: Key points and how it differs from the EU Digital Services Act

A European Perspective on Platforms: The Digital Markets Act

 

 

Kio Gwilliam Martin Kretschmer Alfonso Contaldo

Anna Drozd

Solicitor England & Wales,

Hausfeld & Co. LLP, London

Professore di Intellectual Property Law, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Professore di diritto dell’informazione e comunicazione digitale, Accademia Belle Arti, Roma

EU Policy Adviser

UK Law Societies Brussels Office

UK Pro-competition Regime for Digital Markets: Key differences to the EU Digital Markets Act 

Copyright and the Digital Services Act from a UK Perspective Il Digital Services Act in USA e riflessi sulle policy nei paesi dell’UE Emerging Challenges of Digital Trade: Legal Services and Technology