Study finds fundamental flaws in proposed press publishers’ right and upload filters

 

20 June 2018

A new study by João Pedro Quintais, entitled “Untangling the Hyperlinking Web: In Search of the Online Right of Communication to the Public”, examines the proposals of articles 11 and 13 in light of the online right of communication to the public. Focussing particularly on hyperlinking practices, the study finds that the introduction of the new articles would do little to clarify the broad definition of communication to the public. Instead, the proposed reform would jeopardise freedom of expression and information, as well as undermining the safe harbour provisions of the eCommerce Directive. The author instead recommends that reform should consider the introduction of a functional open-ended clause, accompanied by a non-exhaustive list of activities considered a communication to the public.

The study is available via the Journal of World Intellectual Property here, and via SSRN here.