19 October 2020: Freedom of information request filed with the Ministry of Justice requesting information on the status of implementation of the CDSM Directive. The answer dated 15 December 2020 informs that the implementation draft of selected CDSM articles was sent for written comments to the stakeholders participating in the Ministry of Justice working group. A draft act implementing the CDSM Directive is to be made available to the public in first quarter of 2021.

7 December 2020: Ministry of Justice sends a draft act implementing the CDSM Directive (Bundesgesetz, mit dem das Urheberrechtsgesetz und das Verwertungsgesellschaftengesetz 2016 geändert werden (Urheberrechts-Novelle 2021 – Urh-Nov 2021)) directly to the stakeholders requesting their written comments.

Stakeholders’ comments:
Bildrecht
epicenter.works, SavetheInternet Austria, Communia Association
Creative Commons Austria
Bundesarbeitskammer (BAK)

3 September 2021: Ministry of Justice publishes the Copyright Amendment 2021 (Urheberrechts–Novelle 2021) implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directive on its website, opening it to the public consultation till 13 October 2021.

18 November 2021: National Council (Nationalrat) receives the Copyright Amendment 2021. Text of the bill is accompanied by explanatory notes and a comparison table.

16 December 2021: National Council adopts the Copyright Amendment 2021

17 December 2021: Federal Council (Bundesrat) receives the Copyright Amendment 2021

22 December 2021: Federal Council adopts the Copyright Amendment 2021 (resolution no. 1510/2021)

31 December 2021: Copyright Amendment 2021 is published in the Federal Gazette

Media coverage:
7 June 2021: Der Standard Neues Urheberrecht: Österreichs Regierung lässt Frist verstreichen The draft act is still being consulted by the Ministry of Justice, and there is no information on when it will be presented in the Parliament.

Stakeholders’ positions:
29 April 2021: Initiative Urhebervertragsrecht (Copyright Contract Law Initiative), Open letter to the National Assembly

19 June 2020: Conseil de la Propriété intellectuelle (Council for Intellectual Property) has adopted an opinion on transposition of the CDSM Directive. The opinion includes a text of a draft bill (page 214), as well as a set of working documents. The opinion was adopted following a year of consultations with stakeholders (19 June 2019 to 19 June 2020).

4 June 2021: Council of Ministers approves the preliminary draft law transposing the CDSM Directive. The draft law is presented to the Council of State (Conseil d’Etat) for an opinion.

5 April 2022: Draft law implementing the CDSM Directive (Projet de loi transposant la directive (UE) 2019/790 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 17 avril 2019 sur le droit d’auteur et les droits voisins dans le marché unique numérique et modifiant les directives 96/9/CE et 2001/29/CE) is presented to the Chamber of Representatives. The text accompanied by explanatory notes is available here.

16 June 2022: Chamber of Representatives adopts the law implementing the CDSM Directive

1 August 2022: Law implementing the CDSM Directive is published (Loi transposant la directive (UE) 2019/790 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 17 avril 2019 sur le droit d’auteur et les droits voisins dans le marché unique numérique et modifiant les directives 96/9/CE et 2001/29/CE)

31 January 2023: Google, Meta, Spotify, Sony Music, and Streamz seek annulment of the parts of law implementing the CDSM Directive at the Constitutional Court (pending cases 7922, 7924, 7925, 7926, 7927). Notice of action was published in the official gazette on 1 March 2023 (page 126).

26 June 2020: Public consultation on implementation of the CDSM Directive published by the Ministry of Culture. Three consultation documents concerning arts. 8-12 (no 2), 13-17 (no 3) and 18-23 (no 4) are available on the Ministry’s website. Consultation closed on 31 July 2020.

Consultation document concerning arts. 3-7 (no 1) was distributed earlier, and is now available on the Ministry’s website.

12 December 2020: Ministry of Culture publishes responses to the public consultation on the implementation of the CDSM Directive. Text of the responses is available here.

15 September 2021: Council of Ministers publishes the draft act amending and supplementing the Copyright and Related Rights Act which implements the CDSM and CabSat Directives. The draft act was open to consultation till 15 October 2021. Submissions are available on the consultation website.

16 November 2022: Council of Ministers approves the draft act amending and supplementing the Copyright and Related Rights Act

22 November 2022: Council of Ministers submits the draft act to the Parliament

29 March 2023: Ministry of Culture submits the draft act for re-approval of the Council of Ministers following the untimely dissolution of the Parliament

17 April 2020: Publication of a Draft Bill on Copyright and Related Rights implementing provisions of the CDSM Directive. The State Intellectual Property Office launched a public consultation on the Draft Bill, which was closed on 17 May 2020.

15 May 2020: Public presentation of the Draft Bill on Copyright and Related Rights organised by the State Intellectual Property Office.

7 October 2020: State Intellectual Property Office publishes the report on the public consultation of the Draft Bill. The report includes all 727 comments submitted during the consultation.

12 November 2020: Bill on Copyright and Related Rights presented in the Parliament (Hrvatski sabor).

19 November 2020: Parliamentary Committee on Legislation and Committee on Education, Science and Culture adopt reports on the Bill on Copyright and Related Rights.

10 December 2020: Parliamentary Committee for Information, Informatization and Media adopts a report on the Bill on Copyright and Related Rights.

5 February 2021: The Bill send back to the Ministry of Culture which will now prepare the final text of the Bill.

29 July 2021: Ministry of Culture publishes the final Draft Bill on Copyright and Related Rights and sends it to the Parliament for the second reading.

29 September 2021: Second reading of the Draft Bill in the Parliament. The text of the Draft Bill is available on the Parliament’s website.

1 October 2021: The Parliament adopts the Draft Bill.

14 October 2021: The Act on Copyright and Related Rights is published in the official gazette (Narodne Novine)

Stakeholders’ positions:
17 May 2020 Hrvatsko novinarsko društvo: HND protiv Prijedloga zakona o autorskim pravima: Autori u radnom odnosu zauvijek gube svoja autorska prava Croatian Journalists’ Association’s comment on the Draft Bill, including a proposal to create a special council to address the issue of “appropriate share of remuneration” for journalists
21 April 2021: Communia Association, The Croatian proposal to implement the new education exception: it could be better

9 October 2020: The Intellectual and Industrial Property Section of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry opens a public consultation on the implementation of the CDSM and CabSat Directives. The draft amendments to the Cypriot Copyright Act were open to comments till 5 November 2020.

16 June 2022: Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry presents a draft of the Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Law of 2022 implementing the CDSM Directive to the House of Representatives. The draft law is referred to the Committee on Energy, Trade, Industry and Tourism.

20 September 2022: the Committee on Energy, Trade, Industry and Tourism publishes its report on the draft law.

22 September 2022: House of Representatives adopts the law.

7 October 2022: the law is published in the official gazette as the Law amending the Law on Copyright and Related Rights of 1976 to 2020 (Ν. 155(I)/2022)

1 July 2019: Ministry of Culture begins transposition process. The Ministry’s Copyright Department was tasked with consulting stakeholders via email and oral hearings.

6 November 2020: Ministry of Culture publishes draft bill implementing CDSM and CabSat Directives. The Draft Bill was open to comments till 7 December 2020. Submitted comments are available via document circulation system.
Along with the Draft Bill, the Ministry has published the explanatory memorandum and table outlining changes to the Copyright Act (comparison table).

22 April 2021: Ministry of Culture published an updated draft bill implementing CDSM and CabSat Directives, to be presented to the government

21 June 2021: The government approves the draft bill implementing CDSM and CabSat Directives.

23 June 2021: The draft bill is presented to the Chamber of Deputies (Document 1246/0). The text of the draft bill together with the explanatory memorandum are available on the Chamber’s website.

24 June 2021: Designation of the Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport as a committee responsible for the draft bill.

Due to the end of the term of the Chamber of Deputies, proceeding of the draft bill was terminated.

4 November 2021: The amended draft bill amending Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on copyright, on rights related to copyright and on the amendment of certain laws (Copyright Act), as amended, and other related laws (návrhu zákona, kterým se mění zákon č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů, a další související zákony) is presented to the Chamber of Deputies (Document 31/0). The text of the draft bill and the explanatory memorandum are available on the Chamber’s website.

29 November 2021: Designation of the Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport as a committee responsible for the draft bill.

23 March 2022: First reading of the draft bill

27 September 2022: Second reading of the draft bill and parliamentary debate

14 October 2022: Third reading of the draft bill. The bill is approved by the Chamber of Deputies. The text of the approved bill is available on the Chamber’s website.

7 November 2022: Chamber of Deputies forwards the draft bill to the Senate.

8 November 2022: Designation of the Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions as a responsible committee for the draft bill. The discussion on the bill is included on the agenda for the next Senate sitting (beginning 24 November 2022).

2 December 2022: Senate approves the draft bill. The text of the approved bill is available on the Senate’s website.

8 December 2022: The approved bill is sent to the president for a signature.

9 December 2022: President signs the bill implementing CDSM and CabSat Directives.

20 December 2022: The Act of 8 December 2022 amending Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on copyright, on rights related to copyright and on amendments to certain acts (Copyright Act), as amended, and other related acts is published in the Official Gazette

2 November 2020: Danish Ministry of Culture announces a two-part timeline for the implementation of the CDSM and the CabSat Directives. While arts. 15 and 17 of the CDSM Directive and the CabSat Directive are going to be implemented before 7 June 2021, remaining provisions of the CDSM Directive will be transposed during the second part of 2021.

18 December 2020: Ministry of Culture opens consultation on the Draft Law amending Copyright Act which implements arts. 15 and 17 of the CDSM Directive and the CabSat Directive. The consultation closed on 22 January 2021.
Arts. 15 and 17 of the CDSM Directive are implemented by §1(9) of the Draft Law introducing Chapter 2b (Kapitel 2b Informationssamfundstjenester m.v.) to the Copyright Act.
The Draft Law is to be presented to the Parliament (Folketinget) by the end of March 2021.

26 March 2021: Ministry of Culture presents the Draft Law amending Copyright Act (L 205) to the Parliament. Text of the Draft Law and Comments are available here.

13 April 2021: First reading of the Draft Law in the Parliament

26 May 2021: Committee on Culture publishes a report on the Draft Law

1 June 2021: Second reading of the Draft Law in the Parliament

3 June 2021: Third reading. The Law amending Copyright Act (L 205) is adopted.
Press release by the Ministry of Culture.

Media coverage:
13 July 2022: Jurainfo Status: Implementering af de resterende bestemmelser i DSM-direktivet om ophavsrettigheder Ministry of Culture plans to table a draft law implementing remaining parts of the CDSM Directive in January 2023, and for the implementation to be finished by 1 July 2023

Stakeholders’ positions:
6 June 2021: Kultur Facebook: Rettighedshaverne har magten over indholdet  An op-ed by Jesper Doub and Martin Ruby (Facebook). Facebook in Denmark will stop displaying snippets of press content shared by users’, unless the content has already been shared by its publisher.
8 July 2021: Euractiv Publishers eye collective bargaining as way to take on platforms 30 Danish media organisations establish a collective bargaining organisation to negotiate collective licensing agreements with Google and Facebook.

12 October 2020: Ministry of Justice presents a draft bill on implementation of the CDSM and CabSat Directives. The bill is accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum and a comparison table.

1 December 2020: Ministry of Culture publishes its position on the draft bill.

15 March 2021: Ministry of Justice presents a draft bill on the implementation of the CDSM and CabSat Directives to the Government. The bill is accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum and a comparison table.

5 April 2021: The Draft Act amending the Copyright Act (transposition of copyright directives) 368 SE is presented to the Parliament (Riigikogu)

5 May 2021: First reading of the Draft Act in the Parliament

1 June 2021: Draft Act discussed during the meeting of the Parliament’s Committee on Culture

15 June 2021: Draft Act discussed during the meeting of the Parliament’s Committee on Culture

8 December 2021: The Parliament adopts the Act amending the Copyright Act (transposition of copyright directives) 368 SE

9 December 2021: The Act is sent to the President for signature

20 December 2021: The Act is signed by the President

28 December 2021: The Act is published in the official gazette (Riigi Teatajas). It enters into force on 7 January 2022.

May 2019: Ministry of Education and Culture information on preparation of legislation implementing the CDSM Directive. Website lists ongoing hearings and documentation concerning draft implementation law.

27 September 2021: Ministry of Education and Culture presents a Draft Bill implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directives (Luonnos hallituksen esitykseksi eduskunnalle laeiksi tekijänoikeuslain ja sähköisen viestinnän palveluista annetun lain 184 §n muuttamiseta). The Draft Bill was originally open to public consultation till 31 October 2021. On 2 November 2021, consultation period was extended to 3 November 2021.

13 April 2022: the draft Act amending the Copyright Act (Laki tekijänoikeuslain muuttamisesta) and draft Act  amending the Act on Electronic Communication Services (Laki sähköisen viestinnän palveluista annetun lain muuttamisesta) implementing the CDSM Directive are presented to the Parliament (Government Bill HE 43 /2022 vp). The text with explanatory memorandum is available on the Parliament website.

19 April 2022: Presentation of the Draft Acts to the plenary. The legislation file is available here.

28 April 2022: Draft Acts are referred to the Committees, with the Education and Culture Committee taking the lead in consultation with Constitutional Law Committee, Transport and Communications Committee, and Finance Committee.

Transposition of Article 15 (press publishers’ right)
23 July 2019: Legislation adopted
24 October 2019: Enters into force
LOI n° 2019-775 du 24 juillet 2019 tendant à créer un droit voisin au profit des agences de presse et des éditeurs de presse
9 April 2020: French Competition Authority adopts interim measures against Google, ordering Google to negotiate with publishers and news agencies the remuneration due pursuant to the newly adopted press publishers’ right. Interim measures ordered following the complaints filed by several unions representing press publishers who claim that Google abuses its dominant position by refusing to pay remuneration pursuant to the new right.
Décision n° 20-MC-01 du 9 avril 2020 relative à des demandes de mesures conservatoires présentées par le Syndicat des éditeurs de la presse magazine, l’Alliance de la presse d’information générale e.a. et l’Agence France-Presse
2 July 2020: Google appeals the decision on interim measures
2 September 2020: L’Adlc receives a complaint from APIG about Google’s non-compliance with interim measures
3 September 2020: L’Adlc receives a complaint from Agence France-Presse about Google’s non-compliance with interim measures
8 October 2020: Paris Court of Appeal confirms L’Adlc decision on interim measures
19 November 2020: Google reaches an agreement with some of the French publishers. Talks with APIG are ongoing, with the possibility to reach framework agreement by the end of 2020.
21 January 2021: Google reaches an agreement with APIG
13 July 2021: L’Adlc finds that Google has not complied with the interim measures adopted in its 9th April 2020 decision (esp. obligation to negotiate in good faith and transparency) and imposes 500 million eur fine on Google.

5 December 2019: Draft bill implementing arts. 17-22 CDSM tabled
Projet de Loi relatif à la communicationaudiovisuelle et à la souveraineté culturelle à l’ère numérique

January 2020: Mission Report: Towards more effectiveness of copyright law on online content sharing platforms: overview of content recognition tools and possible ways forward.
Report prepared jointly by the CSPLA (Higher Council on Literary and Artistic Property), HADOPI (High Authority for the Dissemination of Works and the Protection of Rights on the Internet) and the CNC (National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image) to inform implementation of art. 17.

10 June 2020: CSPLA (Higher Council on Literary and Artistic Property) launches a mission on implementation of text and data mining exceptions (arts. 3 and 4)

8 July 2020: Senate adopts droit de l’Union européenne en matière économique et financière (so-called Ddadue law, which includes various provisions adapting national law to EU law). Art. 24bis authorises the government to issue ordonnances to implement the CDSM and CabSat Directives. An ordonnance implementing articles 2-6 and 17-23 of the CDSM Directive should be adopted within 6 months following adoption of the law (other ordonnances, within 12 months).
Senate’s legislation file

7 October 2020: Text of the Ddadue law approved by the National Assembly.
National Assembly’s legislation file

8 October 2020: Creation of a Joint Committee to reconcile texts of the Ddadue law adopted by the Senate and the National Assembly.
22 October 2020: Report of the Joint Committee adopted

17 November 2020: Senate adopts amended text of the Ddadue law
18 November 2020: National Assembly adopts the final text of the Ddadue law

18 December 2020: Mission Report: Transposition of exceptions of text and data mining: issues and proposals.
Report was commissioned by CSPLA and prepared by prof. Alexandra Bensamoun.

19 January 2021: Mission Report: Content recognition tools on digital sharing platforms: Proposals for the implementation of article 17 of the EU Copyright Directive
Second report prepared jointly by the CSPLA, HADOPI, and the CNC to inform implementation of art. 17.

12 May 2021: Ordonnance no 2021-580 implementing arts. 6(2) and 17-23 of the CDSM Directive adopted.

24 November 2021: Ordonnance n° 2021-1518 concluding the implementation of the CDSM Directive is adopted.

15 November 2022: Conseil d’État issues decision no 454477 annulling parts of the Ordonnance n° 2021-580 inasmuch as it does not fully implement art. 18 CDSM (principle of appropriate and porportionate remuneration)

Media coverage:
1 July 2020: Next INpact Les projets de transposition des directives Droit d’auteur et Services de médias audiovisuels Franck Riester, Minister of Culture, declares that the core provisions of the bill tabled in December 2019 implementing, among others art. 17 CDSM Directive, might be adopted by an ordonnance to expedite the process
31 August 2020: Next INpact Le chantier de l’exception « text and data mining » au ministère de la Culture CSPLA mission on text and data mining has sent a questionnaire on implementation of arts. 3 and 4 to its members (answers welcome till 1 November 2020)
2 September 2020: Politico Google and French publishers fail to reach deal on fees for news content Lack of agreement between publishers and Google within the prescribed deadline. Google asks for one-month extension.
8 October 2020: Politico French court sides with press publishers in Google license fee stand-off Paris Court of Appeal confirms L’Adlc decision on interim measures against Google, while Google and APIG are close to reaching an agreement on licensing fees.

Stakeholders’ positions:
4 February 2021: Communia Association, France once more fails to demonstrate support for its interpretation of Article 17
17 May 2021: SACEM, French transposition of the EU copyright directive: a historic step forward for the protection of creators in the digital world

September 2019: Consultation on transposition of CDSM and SatCab Directives:
Öffentliche Konsultation zur Umsetzung der EU-Richtlinien im Urheberrecht (DSM-RL (EU) 2019/790 und Online-SatCab-RL (EU) 2019/789)

15 January 2020: Discussion draft for a First Act to adopt copyright law to the requirements of Digital Single Market by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV) concerning transposition of art. 15 (press publishers’ right) and arts. 3-7 of CDSM. Comments to the draft submitted by interested parties are available on BMJV website.

24 June 2020: Discussion draft for a Second Act to adapt copyright law to the requirements of the Digital Single Market by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection concerning transposition of remaining provisions of the CDSM Directive and CabSat Directive.
Working English translation of the draft on the copyright liability of service providers for sharing online content (art. 3 of the draft transposing art. 17 CDSM Directive) provided by BMJV
Discussion draft was open to public consultation till 31 July 2020.

13 October 2020: Draft bill for the law to adapt copyright law to the requirements of the digital single market published by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV). The draft bill brings together previous two discussion drafts.
The draft bill was open to public consultation till 6 November 2020.

3 February 2021: Federal Government adopts the draft bill for the law to adopt copyright law to the requirements of the digital single market submitted by the BMJV

26 March 2021: First reading of the draft bill in Bundestag (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Anpassung des Urheberrechts an die Erfordernisse des digitalen Binnenmarktes (19/27426)). The Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection hosted a public hearing on the bill on 12 April 2021.

20 May 2021: Bundestag adopts the Bill to adapt copyright law to the requirements of the digital single market (19/27426)

Implementation resources (in German):
[Bill proposal by TH Köln]
Rolf Schwartmann & Christian-Henner Hentsch (March 2020) Stufenkonzept gegen Overblocking durch Uploadfilter:
Ein Vorschlag der Kölner Forschungsstelle für Medienrecht der TH Köln zur Umsetzung von Art. 17 der DSM-Richtlinie [Opinion commissioned by Green party]Gerald Spindler (December 2019) Gutachten zur Urheberrechtsrichtlinie (DSM-RL): Europarechtliche Vereinbarkeit (Artikel 17), Vorschläge zur nationalen Umsetzung und zur Stärkung der Urheberinnen und Urheber
Max Planck (November 2020) Gesetz über die urheberrechtliche Verantwortlichkeit von Diensteanbietern für das Teilen von Online-Inhalten (Urheberrechts-Diensteanbieter-Gesetz – UrhDaG) – Stellungnahme zum Referentenentwurf vom 2. September 2020

Media coverage:
24 June 2020: netzpolitik.org CDU-Ministerien torpedieren Vorschläge für Schutz von Kreativen, Wissenschaft und Bildung Comment on the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi) and the Federal Chancellery positions on the First Act implementing CDSM Directive by Dr Till Kreutzer (includes the text of BMWi and the Chancellery’s statements)

Stakeholders’ positions:
30 November 2020: Open letter on the German draft law transposition of Article 17 of the Digital Single Market (DSM) Copyright Directive signed by IFPI, ACT, ANIMATION in EUROPE, CEPI TV, CEPIC, EMMA, ENPA, EPC, FEP, FIAD, FIAPF, ICMP, IMPALA, IMPF, IVF, IVF, MPA, NME, SROC, STM
26 February 2021: Communia Association, German government draft on Article 17: Two steps forward, one step back

19 September 2019: Minister of Culture and Sports establishes the Legislative Preparatory Committee. Committee’s tasks include implementation of the CDSM and CabSat Directives. Committee’s mandate lasted till 30 June 2020.
20 September 2019: Hellenic Copyright Organization’s (OPI) reaction to the Committee’s establishment.

13 April 2020: Public consultation on implementation of CDSM and CabSat Directives announced by the Hellenic Copyright Organization.
25 May 2020: Deadline for submissions to the consultation extended to 15 June 2020.

12 May 2021: Ministry of Culture and Sports establishes a Working Group for the implementation of CDSM and CabSat Directives. The group was tasked with the preparation of the implementation bill, and its mandate lasts till 28 May 2021.

31 May 2021: Minister of Culture presents the bill for the incorporation of Directives 789/2019 and 790/2019 on intellectual property rights and related rights (νομοσχέδιο για την ενσωμάτωση των Οδηγιών 789/2019 και 790/2019 για τα δικαιώματα πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας και τα συγγενικά δικαιώματα) at the Council of Ministers

15 June 2021: Ministry of Culture and Sports extends the mandate of the Working Group till 30 June 2021.

13 July 2021: Ministry of Culture and Sports extends the mandate of the Working Group till 30 July 2021.

August 2019: Public consultation on the transposition of CDSM and CabSat Directives
Az IM és az SZTNH közös felhívása a szerzői jogi irányelvek átültetését érintő konzultációban való részvételre (Consultation notice published by the National Intellectual Property Office)
Consultation organised around seven topics: TDM exception (arts. 3-4); exception for use of works in digital and cross-border teaching activities (art. 5); out-of-commerce works (arts. 8-11); neighbouring right for press publishers (art. 15); liability of OCSSPs (art. 17); provisions governing the relationships between right holders and users (arts. 14, 16, 18 -23); the CabSat Directive.

7 May 2020: Publication of a Draft text on implementation of CDSM and CabSat Directives. Draft prepared by the Ministry of Justice and the National Office of Intellectual Property was open to consultation till 8 June 2020.
Summary of draft’s structure prepared by Dr Péter Mezei.

18 June 2020: Implementation of exception for use of works in digital and cross-border teaching activities (art. 5) as a part of a mix law concerning cessation of emergencies (Act LVIII of 2020, Official Gazzette (Magyar Közlöny), issue 144/2020). Amendments to Copyright Act implementing art. 5 CDSM are included in §§323-327 (pages 3732-3733 of the Gazzette). These articles amended arts. 34(3), (4), (5); 68(2) and 113(1) of Copyright Act, as well as introduced new arts. 33/A and 34(3a).

31 July 2020: Ministry of Justice and the National Office of Intellectual Property have distributed a second version of a Draft text on implementation of CDSM and CabSat Directives directly to stakeholders. Stakeholders were invited to submit their written comments by 14 August 2020.
Comment by Dr Péter Mezei.

31 March 2021: Bill on the implementation of the CDSM and CabSat Directives submitted to the National Assembly.

26 April 2021: National Assembly approves the Bill on the implementation of the CDSM and CabSat Directives.

6 May 2021: Act XXXVII of 2021 implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directives is published in the official gazette (p. 3184)

25 September 2019: Consultation on the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC – Consultation Paper No. 1 (Articles 13-17). Consultation closed 23 October 2019.

17 October 2019:  Consultation on the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC (Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market) – Consultation Paper No. 2 (Articles 2-7). Consultation closed 14 November 2019.

6 November 2019: Consultation on the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC (Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market) – Consultation Paper No. 3 (Articles 8-11 on Out-of-Commerce Works and Article 12 on Collective licensing with an extended effect). Consultation closed 4 December 2019.

25 November 2019: Consultation on the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC (Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market) – Consultation Paper No. 4 (Articles 18-23 on Fair Remuneration). Consultation closed 23 December 2019.

21 May 2021: Intellectual Property Unit of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment publishes the Information Note for copyright stakeholders and other interested parties concerning transposition of the CDSM Directive.
The draft Statutory Instrument implementing the provisions of the CDSM Directive is being consulted with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, with the Department working towards transposition by the 7 June deadline.

12 November 2021: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment signs the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market) Regulations 2021 (S.I. No. 567 of 2021) implementing the CDSM Directive.

19 November 2021: the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market) Regulations 2021 is published in the Irish Statute Book

30 January 2020: Schema di disegno di legge recante delega al Governi per il recepimento delle direttive europee e l’attuazione di altri atti dell’Unione europea – Legge di delegazione europea 2019 Bill of the Council of Ministers which includes guiding principles on implementation of the CDSM Directive (emphasis on the TDM exception).

14 February 2020: Legge di delegazione europea 2019 (bill no 1721) presented to the Senate. Principles for the transposition of the CDSM Directive are included in art. 9. Senate’s website provides information on works on the bill.

20 February 2020: Senate assigns Legge di delegazione europea 2019 to the Commission for European Affairs (14ª Commissione permanente Politiche dell’Unione europea).

Commission for European Affairs held a number of informal hearings (audizioni informali) on the Bill, inviting stakeholders to share their opinions on implementation of the CDSM Directive:
28 April 2020: RAI, Mediaset, Sky, Netflix (TV industry) (video recording)
5 May 2020: AGCOM, Vodafone, Open Fiber, Wind Tre, Fastweb, ASSIRM, CFWA, Iliad, TIM (telecommunication companies) (video recording)
7 May 2020: ANSO, EMusa, 100autori, ITSRIGHT, AIE (rightsholders associations) (video recording)
12 May 2020: FIEG, Confindustria Digitale, Confindustria Cultura Italia, ANICA, APA, FAPAV, AIB (video recording)
14 May 2020: FNSI, CRUI, SIAE, Wikimedia Italia, Google, Hermes, NUOVO IMAIE, FIMI, MPA, AISA, GOIPE, Creative Commons, Movimento Consumatori, ANAC Autori, Altroconsumo (video recording)
19 May 2020: Slc-Cgil, Fistel-Cisl, Uilcom-Uil, FPA Fotografi, Utilitalia, Motus-E, Neste (video recording)
Written submissions of invited stakeholders are available on Senate’s website.

9 September 2020: Commission for European Affairs adopts Legge di delegazione europea 2019.
English translation of art. 9 of the Bill which includes principles and guiding criteria for the transposition of the CDSM Directive and relevant amendments courtesy of Giulia Priora.

29 October 2020: Senate plenary approves Legge di delegazione europea 2019-2020. The Bill is passed to the Chamber of Deputies under docket no C2757 and assigned to the Commission on European Affairs (14ª Commissione permanente (Politiche dell’Unione europea))

31 March 2021: Chamber of Deputies approves Legge di delegazione europea 2019-2020. As the Bill was passed with amendments, the amended text needs to be approved by the Senate.

20 April 2021: Senate approves Legge di delegazione europea 2019-2020.

13 July 2021: Ministry of Culture circulates the draft decree implementing the CDSM Directive to the stakeholders. A hearing on the draft decree was scheduled for 16-17 July, and submission of written comments to 19 July.

5 August 2021: Draft decree discussed and adopted by the Council of Ministers

9 August 2021: Draft decree communicated to the Chamber of Deputies. The Draft will be consulted with selected Committees, with the opinons scheduled for 16 September 2021. Text of the Draft, together with explanatory notes and comparison table are available on the Chamber of Deputies page.

Commission for Culture, Science and Education and Commission for Transport, Post and Telecommunications (Chamber of Deputies) holds hearings on the Draft decree inviting stakeholders:
23 September 2021: Aie, Anso, Fieg (press publishers’ organisations)
28 September 2021: Disney, LA7, Mediaset, RAI, Discovery, Google, Netflix, Sky, Itsright, SIAE, Soundreef, Nuovo Imaie, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale, Radio Dimensione Suono (RDS) and Radio Rtl 102.5.

Commitee on Judiciary and Committee on Public Works (Senate) hold hearings on the Draft decree inviting stakeholders:
5 October 2021: IMAIE, AIE (Associazione Italiana Editori), ITSRIGHT, Artisti 7607, LEA (Liberi Editori e Autori) and AISA (Associazione Italiana per la promozione della Scienza Aperta).
12 October 2021: Marco Giorello (European Commission), Gustavo Ghidini (Università degli Studi di Milano), SIAE, FIEG, UNIVIDEO, FAPAV, FIMI, FEM, USPI, Società Italiana per l’Ingegneria Culturale, MEDIASET, Capitolo Italiano Creative Commons, Wikimedia Italia and AGCOM.

4 November 2021: Council of Ministers approves the Decree implementing the CDSM Directive

8 November 2021: President promulgates the Decree implementing the CDSM Directive

27 November 2021: the Decree implementing the CDSM Directive is published in the Official Gazette

Implementation resources:
Roberto Caso’s website on Italian implementation of the CDSM Directive

Media coverage:
29 April 2020: La Reppublica Copyright: arriva la legge Interview with Andrea Martella (Undersecretary of the Council of Ministers) on implementation of CDSM Directive in Italy. The directive to be transposed within a year, with the draft bills ready by the end of 2020.
4 August 2021: Corriere della Sera Copyright, news, digitale: decreto da ripensare An opinion by Giuseppe Colangelo on the draft decree implementing the CDSM Directive, arguing against proposed transposition of art. 15 imposing an obligation to negotiate on platforms which resembles an obligation included in the Australian Bargaining Code

Stakeholders’ positions:
28 April 2021: Communia Association, The Italian transposition of the CDSM Directive: A missed opportunity?

24 July 2019: Ministry of Culture creates a working group on the transposition of new copyright directives (order no 498).

12 November 2020: Ministry of Culture instructs the Working Group to put forward the proposal for amendments to the Lithuanian Copyright Act transposing the CDSM Directive by 31 December 2020 (order no 1365).

November 2020: Activity report of the Working Group. Report includes recommendations on the transposition of selected provisions of the CDSM Directive.

21 April 2021: Ministry of Culture publishes the draft law implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directives (Autorių teisių ir gretutinių teisių įstatymo Nr. VIII-1185 2, 3, 5, 11, 15, 21, 22, 23, 25, 32, 46, 48, 51, 53, 56, 58, 59, 63, 65, 7213, 7230, 75, 89, 91, 93, 96 straipsnių, 3 priedo pakeitimo ir papildymo 151, 152, 211, 221, 222, 401, 402, 403, 571, 651 straipsniais, VIII ir IX skyriais įstatymas). The draft law is accompanied by an explanatory memorandum and a comparison table.

Comments on the draft law submitted by the respective ministries:
4 May 2021: Ministry of Education, Science and Sports
6 May 2021: Ministry of Justice
12 May 2021: Ministry of Economics and Innovation
25 June 2021: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

15 December 2021: Government approves the amendments to the Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights and submits them to Seimas which implements the CDSM Directive. The text of the amendments is available here and the press release here.

20 January 2022: Committee on Culture of the Seimas (responsible committee) calls for comments on the draft amendments (closed on 31 January 2022) and announces that a hearing on the draft will take place on 2 February 2022.

2 March 2022: Committee on Culture of the Seimas adopts draft amendments to the Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights, by merging amendments implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directives into one document nr. XIVP-1253(2).

17 March 2022: Legal Department of the Seimas publishes its conclusions on the draft amentments

23 March 2022: Committee on Culture of the Seimas publishes additional conclusions on the draft amendments

24 March 2022: Seimas adopts the amendments to the Law on copyright and related rights

30 March 2022: The amendments to the Law are published in the Register of Legal Acts.

10 February 2021: Office for Intellectual Property (Ministry of the Economy) launches a public consultation on the preliminary draft law transposing the CDSM Directive. The text of the draft law with the explanatory notes is available here. Consultation closed 2 April 2021.

24 June 2021: Minister of Economy presents the bill of law transposing the CDSM Directive to the Chamber of Deputies

1 July 2021: The bill of law is referred to Committee on Economic Affairs, Consumer Protection and Space of the Chamber of Deputies

10 October 2021: Opinion of the Council of State (Conseil d’État) is published

2 November 2021: Opinion of the Chamber of Commerce (Chambre de Commerce) is published

1 February 2022: Additional opinion of the Council of State is published

8 March 2022: Committee on the Economy, Consumer Protection and Space publishes its report

30 March 2022: First vote on the Bill of Law. The Bill is approved. The text of the Bill as approved is available here

1 April 2022: The Chamber of Deputies and the Council of State waive the second vote

1 April 2022: The Law is granted royal assent

5 April 2022: The Law is published in the official gazette (Mémorial: A158). Full title of the Law:
Loi du 1er avril 2022 portant modification :
1° de la loi modifiée du 18 avril 2001 sur les droits d’auteur, les droits voisins et les bases de données ;
2° de la loi du 3 décembre 2015 relative à certaines utilisations autorisées des œuvres orphelines ;
3° de la loi du 25 avril 2018 relative à la gestion collective des droits d’auteur et des droits voisins et l’octroi de licences multiterritoriales de droits sur des œuvres musicales en vue de leur utilisation en ligne dans le marché intérieur,
en vue de la transposition de la directive 2019/790 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 17 avril 2019 sur le droit d’auteur et les droits voisins dans le marché unique numérique et modifiant les directives 96/9/CE et 2001/29/CE.

20 August 2020: Ministry for Economy, Investment and Small Business opens a public consultation on the transposition of the CDSM Directive. The consultation document does not cover arts. 15 and 17. Consultation closed on 30 September 2020.

10 November 2020: Report on the consultation published by the Ministry for the Economy Investment and Small Businesses: Government response to the Consultation on the Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001//29/EC. The Consultation received 6 responses; their text was not published. The CDSM Directive is to be transposed as a whole before 7 June 2021 deadline.

18 June 2021: Copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market Regulations 2021 (Chapter S.L. 415.08 of Consolidated laws) implementing the CDSM Directive issued by the Minister for the Economy and Industry is published in the official gazette.

2 July 2019: Publication of draft Implementation Bill on Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market and Consultation

11 May 2020: proposal for the Copyright Directive Implementation Act submitted to the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer)

23 June 2020: Report of the Committee on Justice and Security on the draft Implementation Act

17 November 2020: The House of Representatives adopts the Copyright Directive Implementation Act. The Bill now passes to the Senate (Eerste Kamer).

15 December 2020: The Senate adopts the Copyright Directive Implementation Act.

16 December 2020: The Copyright Directive Implementation Act receives royal assent.

29 December 2020: The Copyright Directive Implementation Act is published in the official journal (Staatsblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). Netherlands becomes the first country to implement the CDSM Directive in full.

Stakeholders’ positions:
25 June 2020: EFF comments to the Copyright Draft Implementation Bill: Article 17 C-DSM

26 July 2024: Sejm approves the amended draft act. The act is sent to the President for signature.

23 September 2021: The Council of Ministers approves the Draft delegation law implementing the CDSM Directive (point 5 of the communication)

28 September 2021: The Council of Ministers submits the Draft delegation law to the Assembly of the Republic. The submission includes the draft of the Council’s decree implementing the CDSM Directive. Committee on Culture and Communication is designated as a responsible committee.

June-December 2019: First round of consultations organised by the Romanian Copyright Office involving 98 national stakeholders.

29 April 2021: Ministry of Culture publishes draft law implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directives. The draft law was open to comments till 10 May 2021.

18 May 2021: Ministry of Culture held stakeholders dialogue on the draft law. The minutes of the meeting are available on the Ministry’s website.

5 October 2021: Romanian Copyright Office announces the publication of the revised draft. The draft is to be submitted to the Parliament shortly.

6 October 2021: Draft Law amending and supplementing Law no. 8/1996 on copyright and related rights (Proiect de lege pentru modificarea și completarea Legii nr.8/1996 privind dreptul de autor și drepturile conexe) is presented to the Senate. The Draft Law is accompanied by the Explanatory Memorandum, comparison table and an opinion of the Legislative Council.

10 November 2021: The Draft Law is adopted by the Senate. The text of the Law as adopted by the Senate is available here

15 November 2021: The Draft Law is sent for the debate to the Chamber of Deputies

2 March 2022: The Law is adopted by the Chamber of Deputies. The text of the Law as adopted by the Chamber is available here

9 March 2022: The Law is sent to the President of Romania for promulgation

28 March 2022: The President of Romania promulgates the Law

1 April 2022: The Law no. 69 amending and supplementing Law no. 8/1996 on copyright and related rights is published in the official gazette (Monitorul  Oficial nr. 321).

January 2020: Preliminary information on the implementation of the CDSM and CabSat Directives and invitation to submit written opinions and proposals

8 November 2021: Ministry of Culture submits the draft bill implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directives to the National Council (Slovak Parliament). The draft bill is accompanied by an explanatory memorandum.

24 November 2021: First reading of the draft bill in the National Council. The Committee on Culture and Media is designated responsible for the file with 21 January 2022 as a deadline for discussion.

16 February 2022: National Council approves the draft bill during the second reading. Text of the act as approved is available here.

Media coverage:
26 September 2021: Teraz.sk: Rezort kultúry predložil na pripomienkovanie novelu autorského zákona, Ministry of Culture submits draft amendments to the Copyright Act implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directives to inter-ministerial consultation.

March 2020: consultations and invitation to submit written opinions on implementation of the CDSM and CabSat Directives
11 March 2020: consultation cancelled
20 March 2020: deadline for written opinions extended to 30 April 2020

5 June 2020: Ministry of Economic Development and Technology publishes stakeholders’ written submissions on implementation of the CDSM and CabSat Directives. Submissions were opened to comments till 30 June 2020.

21 May 2021: Ministry of Economic Development and Technology publishes the Draft Law on Amendments and Additions to the Copyright and Related Rights Act (Predlog Zakona o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o avtorski in sorodnih pravicah) and the Draft Law on Amendments and Additions to the Law on Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights (Predlog Zakona o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o kolektivnem upravljanju avtorske in sorodnih pravic) implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directives. The draft was open to comments till 28 June 2021.

26 August 2022: Government submits to the National Assembly drafts of two laws implementing the CDSM and CabSat Directives: Act Amending the Copyright and Related Rights Act (234-IX, Predloga zakona o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o avtorski in sorodnih pravicah) and Act Amending the Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights Act (235-IX, Predloga zakona o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o kolektivnem upravljanju avtorske in sorodnih pravic). Both draft acts are subject to the urgent legislative procedure. Summary of the legislative procedure concerning both acts is available on the National Assembly website here and here.

29 September 2022: National Assembly adopts Act Amending the Copyright and Related Rights Act and Act Amending the Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights Act.

11 October 2022: Act Amending the Copyright and Related Rights Act (ZASP-I) and Act Amending the Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights Act (ZKUASP-A) are published in the Official Gazette. Acts enter into force on 26 October 2022.

15 November 2019: Ministry of Culture opens a public consultation on transposition of the CDSM and CabSat Directives. Consultation closed on 19 December 2019.

2 November 2021: CDSM and CabSat Directives are implemented by the Royal Decree 24/2021

3 November 2021: Royal Decree 24/2021 is published in the official gazette

Media coverage:
2 June 2021: elDiario.es: El Gobierno esperará las directrices de Bruselas para adaptar la polémica directiva europea de copyright An update on the implementation process in Spain, with the Minister of Culture declaring the transposition process will not start before EC provides guidelines on art. 17 CDSM

Stakeholders’ positions:
10 October 2021: Wikimedia Espana, Transponer la DEMUD por Real Decreto-Ley elimina la oportunidad de reformar los derechos de autoría con calidad democrática Wikimedia Espana warns against implementation of the CDSM Directive via a Royal decree (as announced by the Minister of Culture and Sport) and calls for the establishment of a formal consultation process.

May 2019: Creation of a reference group by the Ministry of Justice to inform the implementation process. Over 80 organisations were invited to participate (list later expanded).
First meeting of the group was held on 18 June 2019. Seven future meetings to take place during the fall 2019 and spring 2020.

September 2019: Memorandum prepared by the Ministry of Justice and sent to the members of the reference group as basis for obtaining comments on the implementation of art. 17.

22 May 2020: Second memorandum by the Ministry of Justice on implementation of art. 17 shared with the members of the reference group. Opened for comments till 22 June.

8 October 2021: Ministry of Justice publishes a memorandum on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (Ds 2021:30), which includes the legislative proposal for the implementation of the CDSM Directive. Ministry proposes for the CDSM Directive to be implemented by 1 July 2022.
Memorandum was consulted with a selection of stakeholders.

7 July 2022: the Government submits Bill 2021/22:278 on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (Upphovsrätten på den digitala inre marknaden) to the Riksdag. The bill includes proposals for Act amending the Act (1960:729) on copyright in literary and artistic works, Act amending the Act (2016:977) on collective administration of copyright, and Act amending the Act (2017:322) on mediation in certain copyright disputes which implement provisions of the CDSM Directive. The text of Bill together with explanatory notes is available on the Riksdag’s website.

24 November 2022: Committee on Enterprise recommends adoption of the Bill.

29 November 2022: debate in the Riksdag

30 November 2022: the Riksdag adopts the Bill.

13 December 2022: the Bill is published in the official journal: Act amending the Act (1960:729) on copyright in literary and artistic works (SFS 2022:1712), Act amending the Act (2017:322) on mediation in certain copyright disputes (SFS 2022:1713), and Act amending the Act (2016:977) on collective management of copyright (SFS 2022:1714)

January 2020: In response to a parliamentary question, the UK government says that it has no intention to implement the CDSM directive, and that it is not required to do so under the Brexit process.

The first dialogue (covering music, games and software) was dominated by the music sector. It took place on 15 October 2019, and is documented here.

The second dialogue took place on 5 November 2019, with a focus on the audio-visual sector (including sports) and publishing sector (including news). It is documented here.

The third dialogue took place on 25 November 2019. It is documented here. Aims of the dialogue included increasing technical understanding of the operation of content identification systems. Arguably, this should have taken place before the Directive was adopted.

The fourth meeting took place on 16 December 2019. It is documented here.

The fifth dialogue took place on 16 January 2020. The meeting begun what the EC described as “a third phase of the stakeholder dialogue” which is to “focus on the practical application of Article 17”. It is documented here.

The sixth meeting took place on 10 February 2020. It is documented here.

The next meeting, originally scheduled for 30 March 2020, has been postponed.

8 July 2020: Politico reports that the EC plans to circulate art. 17 implementation guidelines for consultation by end-July 2020.

27 July 2020: EC publishes a targeted consultation addressed to the participants of stakeholder dialogue. The consultation paper aimed at finalising stakeholder dialogue and presenting EC’s initial ideas on art. 17 guidelines, was open to stakeholders’ written comments till 10 September 2020.

Stakeholders’ responses to the EC targeted consultation:

IFPI, ACT, CEPI, CEPIC, ECSA, EPC, EUROCINEMA, FEP, FIAD, FIAPF, GESAC, ICMP, IMPALA, IMPF, IVF, Mediapro, MPA, NME, SROC, STM, Telefónica, UNIC: IFPI and 21 organisation from Europe’s cultural and creative sectors raise concerns regarding the European Commission’s proposed guidance on the application of Article 17 of the DSM Directive (10 September 2020)

CCIA Europe: CCIA Responds to the European Commission Consultation on Article 17 of the Copyright Directive (10 September 2020)

Communia Association: A step in the right direction: Our response to the targeted consultation on the Article 17 guidance (11 September 2020)

GESAC: Article 17 guidelines: our letter to Thierry Breton (11 September 2020)

EFF: EFF to EU Commission on Article 17: Prioritize Users’ Rights, Let Go of Filters (11 September 2020)

IFJ, EFJ: Journalists’ federations support use of Extended Collective Licensing in new submission on EU Copyright Directive (14 September 2020)

SAA: SAA’s submission to the Copyright Directive’s Article 17 consultation (14 September 2020)

Communia Association, ANSOL, Antigone, ApTI Romania, Article 19, Centrum Cyfrowe, Liberties, Creatvie Commons, D3, Digitale Gesellschaft, Digital Rights Ireland, EFF, Epicenter.works, EDRi, Gesellschaft fur Freiheitsrechte, Hermes Center, Human Rights Without Frontiers, IPI, ICA, IFLA, IuRe, La Quadrature du Net, #noisiamorete, RIS, Wikimedia, XNet, Young Pirates of Europe: Civil Society letter on the Article 17 implementation guidance (14 September 2020)

EVA: EVA’s contribution to art. 17 guidelines. European Visual Artists remain vigilant on the Copyright Directive to close value-gap for real (15 September 2020)

Liberties: Current Version of Copyright Directive Threatens Human Rights, NGOs Warn (17 September 2020)

BEUC: European Commission’s guidance on application of Article 17 of the Copyright Directive (23 September 2020)

27 October 2020: Politico publishes a non paper from Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain which notes that the EC consultation paper “exceeds the purpose of the guidelines to be adopted by the Commission and raises very serious issues”.

4 June 2021: Guidance on Article 17 of Directive 2019/790 on Copyright in the Digital Single Market is published.

Critical summaries of the stakeholder dialogues by the Communia Association:

Day 1: Same old, same old 
Day 2: Filters, not licenses!
Day 3: Filters do not meet the requirements of the directive
Day 4: It’s all about transparency
Day 5: It all depends
Day 6: Hitting a brick wall

Reports on the stakeholder dialogues by European Digital Rights (EDRi):

EU copyright dialogues: The next battleground to prevent upload filters (First meeting)
Copyright stakeholder dialogues: Filters can’t understand context (Fourth meeting)

20 May 2019: Open Letter: Copyright Working Group Must Include NGO Voices
Open letter to EC calling for the involvement of human rights and digital rights organisations, the knowledge community, free and open source software developers, and communities in all of its efforts around the transposition and implementation of article 17.
Prepared by The Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties), and signed by over 40 users’ and fundamental rights organisations.

14 January 2020: More Transparency Needed During Copyright Debate
Open letter to the EC calling for opening of the draft guidelines to consultation with the participants of the stakeholder dialogues and the broader public.
Prepared by Liberties and signed by over 40 users’ and fundamental rights organisations.
Answer by Roberto Viola (DG CONNECT, Director General), who wrote that participants of the stakeholder dialogue “have my assurance that you will be further consulted before adoption of the guidance”.

20 April 2021: Open letter on Article 17
Open letter to the EC calling for the publication of guidelines and preservation of guidelines’ elements which safeguard users’ fundamental rights.
Prepared by Paul Keller (Communia Association) and signed by 20 other users’ rights organisations who participated in the stakeholder dialogue.

João Pedro Quintais, Commission’s Guidance on Art. 17 CDSM Directive: the authorisation dimension (Kluwer Copyright Blog, 10 June 2021)
Bernd Justin Jütte and Giulia Priora, A further step into a systematic distortion: The EC Guidance on Article 17 CDSM Directive further complicates copyright exceptions (Kluwer Copyright Blog, 9 June 2021)
Julia Reda and Paul Keller, European Commission back-tracks on user rights in Article 17 Guidance (Kluwer Copyright Blog, 4 June 2021)
Eleonora Rosati, Commission unveils Article 17 Guidance: 3 highlights (IP Kat, 4 June 2021)
Bernd Justin Jütte and Christophe Geiger, The EU Commission’s Guidance on Article 17 of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive (Op-Ed) (European Law Blog, 7 June 2021)

Stakeholders’ statements:
EDRi, European Commission ignores civil society concerns and sides with creative industries (4 June 2021)
Communia Association, Article 17 implementation guidance: Strong user rights safeguards with a giant loophole (4 June 2021)
GESAC, GESAC reacts to Article 17 Guidelines (7 June 2021)
IMPALA: IMPALA’s statement on the European Commission’s Guidance on article 17 of the EU Copyright Directive (7 June 2021)
EFF, “Earmarking”: A New Synonym For Online Censorship? (29 June 2021)

June 2019: European University Association
EU Copyright Directive. EUA issues guidelines for universities

November 2019: EBLIDA, IFLA, LIBER, SPARC Europe
Transposing the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market: A Guide for Libraries and Library Associations

December 2019: Communia Association
Guidelines for the Implementation of the DSM Directive

June 2020: European Composer and Songwriter Alliance
The European Composer and Songwriter Alliance’s 10 steps on how to implement the Copyright Directive for more sustainable music ecosystem

March 2020
EFF: Copyright Filters Are On a Collision Course With EU Data Privacy Rules
EFJ: Journalists’ organisations demand fair share in EU Copyright Directive submission
LIBER: Europe’s TDM Exception for Research: Will It Be Undermined By Technical Blocking From Publishers?
SAA: Press release: One year after the EU Copyright Directive

April 2020
EFF: Article 17 Stakeholder Dialogue: EFF additional comments on privacy concerns and filter test suites
Communia Association: A better way to implement Article 17? New German proposal to avoid overblocking
GESAC: Creating a new Europe: Copyright Directive a year on
EFJ: Celebrating the EU Copyright Reform for a Fairer Digital World

May 2020
Liberties: Copyright Guidelines Need to Protect Users’ Fundamental Rights

June 2020
ECSA: #ECSA4CopyrightDirective Official Video
SAA: Letter to EU Ministers: Implement the Copyright Directive to fit modern day consumption of audiovisual works

July 2020
Liberties: Rights Organizations Are Still Pushing to Avoid Mandatory Upload Filters

August 2020
EIMP: EU Copyright Directive: Dutch proposal as a best practice in transposition

October 2020
EPC: Google’s News Showcase Challenges EU Publisher’s Right

December 2020
EMMA and ENPA: The Publishers’ Right needs to be respected by Mega-platforms – European press publishers ask for further rules in the DMA to restore fairness in the online ecosystem

January 2021
Communia Association: DSM Directive implementation update: more proposals to protect users’ rights

March 2021
AEPO-ARTIS and SAA: Press release: Performers and audiovisual authors call on Member States to entrust CMOs to manage their royalties

April 2021
EMMA and ENPA: European press publishers celebrate world intellectual property day
SAA: The opportunity with a delayed copyright transposition

June 2021
SAA: Be bold and implement Article 18 with a statutory right to remuneration, advise legal experts Member States
ECSA, EWC, FERA, FSA: Authors’ Group Press Statement on the Transposition of the 2019 Copyright Directive
NME: European publishers slam delays in implementation of Copyright Directive
Europeana: A missed deadline: the state of play of the Copyright Directive

July 2021
NME: European news media asks Member States to transpose smart copyright rules

26 March 2019 (day of the final vote in the European Parliament)

CCIA Europe: EU Copyright Directive: A Missed Opportunity for Europe
Communia Association: The new Copyright Directive is a lost opportunity for Europe
DIGITALEUROPE: DIGITALEUROPE press release on the Plenary adoption of Copyright Directive
EDiMA: EDiMA reaction: EU Copyright Directive is not fit for digital age
EDRi: Press Release: Censorship machine takes over EU’s internet
EFF: EU’s Parliament Signs Off on Disastrous Internet Law: What Happens Next?
EuroISPA: EuroISPA regrets plenary vote on EU Copyright Directive
FERA, FSE, SAA: A new EU Copyright law – a long-fought battle won
IFPI: Statement on the European Parliament plenary vote on the Copyright Directive
IFJ, EFJ: IFJ/EFJ hail adoption of Copyright Directive and urge EU Member States to adopt laws that ensure fair and proportionate remuneration for journalists
Liberties: Copyright Directive Passes, But Fight Against Upload Filters Isn’t Over
NME: European Parliament votes to adopt an EU Copyright Directive fit for the 21st century
Open Knowledge Foundation: EU copyright vote a ‘massive blow’ for internet users
OpenMedia: European Copyright Directive passes, setting dangerous precedent for the open Internet
PRS for Music: PRS for Music boss hails Copyright Directive a ‘massive step forward’
W&DW: W&DW celebrates historic vote in Europe for creators
Wikimedia Foundation: European Parliament limits internet freedom in controversial copyright vote

27 March 2019

SPARC Europe: A new Copyright Legislation for Europe. How will this impact Open Access?

28 March 2019

EUA: EU Copyright Directive: EUA cautious about adopted agreement

29 March 2019

LIBER: New European Copyright Directive: A Detailed Look
EBLIDA: Long Read : Final stretch for the Digital Single Market Directive

15 April 2019 (final text adopted by the Council)

Authors Group (ECSA, EWC, FERA and FSE): European organisations of authors welcome the final adoption of the Copyright Directive and call on EU Member States to seize this historical opportunity to improve the livelihoods of all authors and foster Europe’s creativity
EDRi: EU Member States give green light for copyright censorship
EMMA, ENPA, NME, EPC: EU Copyright reform adopted by Member States: Publishers call for quick and appropriate implementation into national laws
EVA: EVA welcomes adoption of the Copyright Directive
FEP: Press release: Adoption of the CDSM Directive by the Council
GESAC: A major achievement for Europe: GESAC welcomes the final adoption of the Copyright Directive
Society of Authors: Copyright Directive receives final approval by EU

16 April 2019

IFLA: The EU Copyright Reform: Battles Won, Bullets Dodged, and the Questions that Remain
IGEL: Council lets copyright reform pass – the die is cast
IMPALA: ‘It was a long road’: IMPALA welcomes green light for Copyright Directive

17 April 2019

IFLA, EBLIDA, SPARC Europe, EUA, LIBER: Press Release on the Adoption of the European Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market

19 April 2019

Communia Association: DSM directive adopted – implementation in Member States can still make a difference

Document courtesy of Professor Alexander Peukert

VG Media v Google (Case C-299/17)

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht Berlin in case VG Media v Google LLC

The request made in the context of legal proceedings between VG Media and Google concerning the payment of damages for the use of text excerpts, images and videos in Google’s services pursuant to national press publishers’ right in Germany.
The regional court of Berlin asked the CJEU to consider the enforceability of the German press publishers’ right in light of the requirement to notify the European Commission of any draft technical regulation on services as foreseen in article 8(1) of the Directive 98/34/EC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations.
The CJEU found that the German press publishers’ right is a rule specifically aimed at information society services (search engines), and a technical regulation which the EC should have been, but was not, notified of. Following the CJEU judgement, the German press publishers’ right became inapplicable and unenforceable.

Opinion by AG Hogan delivered on 13 December 2018

Judgement delivered on 12 September 2019

VG Media withdraws its claim against Google on 4 June 2020

Poland v European Parliament and Council of the European Union (Case C-401/19)

Action for annulment of Article 17(4)(b) and Article 17(4)(c) of the CDSM Directive brought on 24 May 2019 by Republic of Poland

Poland asked the CJEU to annul parts of article 17 of the CDSM Directive, since they infringe the right to freedom of expression and information guaranteed by Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In its submission, Poland noted that by making it necessary for the service providers to carry out prior automatic verification (filtering) of content uploaded online by users, article 17 calls for introduction of preventive control mechanisms, which undermines the essence of the right to freedom of expression and information.

Statement by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (in Polish)

Hearing scheduled for 10 November 2020

Report from 10 November 2020 hearing by Paul Keller: CJEU hearing in the Polish challenge to Article 17: Not even the supporters of the provision agree on how it should work (11 November 2020, Kluwer Copyright Blog)

Summary of 10 November 2020 hearing by Julia Reda: Walking from Luxembourg to Brussels in two hours. The European Court of Justice will rule on the legality of upload filters (16 November 2020, Verfassungsblog)

Delivery of AG opinion scheduled for 22 April 2021.

AG opinion rescheduled to 15 July 2021.

Opinion by AG Saugmandsgaard Øe delivered on 15 July 2021.

Comments on the AG opinion
Christoph Schmon, Article 17 Copyright Directive: The Court of Justice’s Advocate General Rejects Fundamental Rights Challenge But Defends Users Against Overblocking (EFF, 15 July 2021)
Teresa Nobre, A look at the AG Opinion on Article 17 (Communia Blog, 19 July 2021)
Bernd Justin Jütte and Giulia Priora, On the necessity of filtering online content and its limitations: AG Saugmandsgaard Øe outlines the borders of Article 17 CDSM Directive (Kluwer Copyright Blog, 20 July 2021)
Julia Reda and Paul Keller, What Member States can learn from the AG opinion on Article 17 (Kluwer Copyright Blog, 26 July 2021)
Lorna Woods, Copyright and the Internet: Poland v Parliament and Council (Case C-401/19), Opinion of the Advocate General, 15 July 2021 (EU Law Analysis Blog, 10 August 2021)

Judgement delivered on 26 April 2022. CJEU dismisses Polish action for annulment, finding art. 17 CDSM compatible with freedom of expression and information. See press release.

Possible bifurcation of liability regimes under art. 17 CDSM Directive and eCommerce Directive

LF v Google YouTube (Case C-682/18)

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesgerichtshof (Germany) lodged on 6 November 2018 in case LF v Google LLC, YouTube Inc., YouTube LLC, Google Germany GmbH.

The request made in the context of legal proceedings between a plaintiff, a music producer and co-owner of a music publishing house, and YouTube, concerning the availability of videos infringing plaintiff’s copyright on the YouTube platform, following their initial removal.
The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) referred six questions to the CJEU. The first question asks whether the operator of an internet video platform on which videos containing content protected by copyright are made publicly accessible by users without the consent of the rightholders carries out an act of communication within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive. The BGH lists a number of circumstances which it deems important in the context of this question, including the automatic character of the upload and the fact that platform’s operator earns advertising revenue by means of the platform. The second question posed by the BGH, concerns a situation when the first question is answered in negative. The second question asks whether the activity of the operator of an internet video platform under the conditions described in question 1 comes within the scope of Article 14(1) of the eCommerce Directive. The full text of the reference is available here.

Hearing: 25 November 2019 reported by Politico here and here.

The International Literary and Artistic Association (ALAI) opinion (25 February 2019)

Politico reports that delivery of AG opinion was postponed to 15 July 2020.

Opinion by AG Saugmandsgaard Øe delivered on 16 July 2020 (joined cases C-682/18 and C-683/18)

Judgement delivered on 22 June 2021 (joined cases C-682/18 and C-683/18)

Elsevier Inc. v Cyando (Case C-683/18)

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesgerichtshof (Germany) lodged on 6 November 2018 in case Elsevier Inc. v Cyando AG

The request made in the context of legal proceedings between Elsevier, a scientific publisher, and Uploaded, a shared hosting service operated by Cyando. The service provides a storage space for uploading files, which can contain any type of (copyright) content. For each uploaded file, the service creates a link, which the user can share online in so-called link collections. Elsevier seeks an injunction, provision of information, and declaration of liability of Cyando.
The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) referred six questions to the CJEU. The first question asks whether the operator of a shared hosting service via which files containing content protected by copyright are made publicly accessible by users without the consent of the rightholders carries out an act of communication within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive. The BGH lists a number of circumstances which it deems important in the context of this question, including the automatic character of the upload process, earning of revenues by the service provider and allowing anonymous uploads. The third question posed by the BGH, concerns a situation when the first question is answered in negative. The third question asks whether the activity of the operator of a shared hosting service under the conditions described in question 1 comes within the scope of Article 14(1) of the eCommerce Directive. The fifth question referred by the BGH concerns a situation when both the first and third questions are answered in negative, and asks whether a shared hosting service provider can nevertheless be regarded as an infringer within the meaning of the first sentence of article 11 and article 13 of the Enforcement Directive.
The full text of a reference is available here.

Opinion by AG Saugmandsgaard Øe delivered on 16 July 2020 (joined cases C-682/18 and C-683/18)

Judgement delivered on 22 June 2021 (joined cases C-682/18 and C-683/18)

Puls 4 TV (C-500/19)

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster Gerichtshof (Austria) lodged on 1 July 2019 in case Puls 4 TV GmbH & Co. KG v YouTube LLC and Google Austria GmbH

The request made in the context of legal proceedings between Puls 4 TV, an operator of an Austrian television broadcaster, and YouTube. Puls 4 TV filed an action for injunction to prohibit YouTube from making available videos containing audiovisual works Puls 4 TV produced, which have been uploaded without authorisation. An injunction was granted by a court of first instance and later dismissed on appeal. The Supreme Court of Austria (Oberster Gerichtshof), considering an appeal on the point of law, referred 4 questions to the CJEU.
The first question asks whether an operator of an online video platform plays an active role and loses the liability privilege provided by art. 14(1) of the eCommerce Directive when it provides or offers to the user accompanying activities in addition to the provision of storage space for third-party content. Accompanying activities include linking the videos uploaded by the user with advertisements (with the user’s consent), suggesting videos, providing user with search function and “help” section. The second question concerns a situation where the host service provider plays an active role as accessory to infringement. The question asks whether it is at the discretion of Member States to provide for claims for a prohibitory injunction also against accessories acting unknowingly or whether Member States must provide for such claims for a prohibitory injunction pursuant to art. 11 of the Enforcement Directive. The third question referred by the Supreme Court of Austria, asks whether the intermediary service provider can benefit from liability privileges provided by arts. 12 to 14 of the eCommerce Directive even if its activity is its own communication to the public within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive. The fourth question asks whether the liability privilege for intermediary service providers in accordance with the eCommerce Directive also exists in respect of claims for a prohibitory injunction (injunction orders issued by the courts).

The full text of a reference is available here.

Liability for communication to the public (art. 3 of the InfoSoc Directive)

Filmspeler (C-527/15)

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Rechtbank Midden-Nederland (Netherlands) lodged on 5 October 2015 in case Stichting Brein v Jack Frederik Wullems, currently trading under the name Filmspeler

The request made in the context of legal proceedings between Stichting Brein, an anti-piracy organisation, and Mr Wullems, a seller of a multimedia player (filmspeler) with preinstalled open source software and add-ons which include links to websites making works available without the consent of right holders. Stichting Brein brought a legal action seeking an order to stop Mr Wullems from selling multimedia players such as filmspeler, and offering hyperlinks that give users illegal access to protected works.
The District Court, Midden-Nederland (the Rechtbank Midden-Nederland) referred four questions to the CJEU. By its first two questions, in essence, the court asked whether sale of multimedia players, such as filmspeler, amounts to communication to the public within the meaning of art. 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive, and whether this assessment is influenced by enumerated factors, including users ability to install add-ons and access links on their own.
The CJEU found that sale of multimedia players, such as filmspeler, amounts to communication to the public. In CJEU’s opinion, sale of multimedia players is not a mere provision of physical facilities for enabling or making communication. Mr Wullems, with full knowledge of the consequences of his conduct, pre-installed add-ons that specifically enable purchasers to have access to protected works published without the consent of the copyright holders of those works. Intervention of Mr Wullems enabled a direct link to be established between websites broadcasting counterfeit works and purchasers of the multimedia player, without which the purchasers would find it difficult to benefit from those protected works, since such websites are not readily identifiable by the public and the majority of them change frequently.

Opinion by AG Sánchez-Bordona delivered on 8 December 2016

Judgement delivered on 26 April 2017

Stichting Brein v Ziggo (C-610/15)

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Netherlands) lodged on 18 November 2015 in case Stichting Brein v Ziggo BV and XS4ALL Internet BV

The request made in the context of legal proceedings between Stichting Brein, an anti-piracy organisation, and Ziggo and XS4ALL, internet access providers whose subscribers use the online sharing platform, The Pirate Bay (TPB), an indexer of BitTorrent files. The files shared via TPB relate mainly to copyright-protected works, and are shared without the consent of the right holders. Stichting Brein requested that Ziggo and XS4ALL are ordered to block the domain names and IP addresses of TPB, so that their services cannot be used to infringe copyright and related rights.
The Supreme Court of Netherlands (Hoge Raad der Nederlanden) considering the case on appeal, referred two questions to the CJEU, asking in essence whether TPB amounts to the communication to the public in the meaning of art. 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive.
The CJEU found that TPB does communicate works to the public. First, the CJEU inferred from this case-law that, as a rule, any act by which a user, with full knowledge of the relevant facts, provides its clients with access to protected works is liable to constitute an ‘act of communication’ for the purposes of Article 3(1) of the InfoSoc Directive. Even though the works are made available by users, not TBP operator itself, in the CJEU’s opinion by making TPB platform available, and managing it, the operator of TPB provides users with access to works, and plays an essential role in making works available to the public. Secondly, the CJEU noted that TPB platform is used by a considerable number of persons, who can access it at any time and simultaneously, which means that TPB communication is aimed at an indeterminate number of potential recipients and involves a large number of persons, the public.

Opinion by AG Szpunar delivered on 8 February 2017

Judgement delivered on 14 July 2017

March 2020: Senate hearings by Subcommittee on Intellectual Property hearings on the topic of updating and modernizing the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Second hearing: “Copyright Law in Foreign Jurisdictions: How are other countries handling digital piracy?” (10 March 2020)
Testimonies by Professor Justin Hughes, Professor Pamela Samuelson, Professor Michael D. Smith, Professor Daphne Keller, Mr. Stan McCoy, Ms. Julia Reda, Mr. Jonathan Yunger, Mr. Matt Schruers

May 2020: United States Copyright Office
Section 512 of Title 17: A Report by the Register of Copyrights