Dutch parliamentary working group: downloading should become illegal in the Netherlands

Downloading from an illegal source should become illegal in the Netherlands, but only when the entertainment industry steps up efforts to come up with viable alternatives to illegal downloading. This is the most important recommendation of a parliamentary working group on copyright. The working group, which is part of the select committee on Justice affairs and is headed by MP Arda Gerkens of the Socialist Party, has investigated the sticking points when it comes to copyright in the light of the digital revolution.

According to he working group, the outdated Dutch copyright law (which was enacted in 1912) has failed to keep up with the rapid technological changes. Therefore, structural changes to the law need to be made.

The working group wants to see a ‘cultural change’ whereby consumers acknowledge  the fact that content isn’t always free. To this end the current legal situation in the Netherlands, where downloading from an illegal source is considered legal (it is covered by the home copying exception), needs to be remedied. Without this it will be very hard to convince consumers, especially younger consumers, that content is not by definition free. However, before any changes to the law are made the entertainment industry must come up with viable alternatives to their current business models ,which for the most part are tied to physical media such as DVDs. Future of Copyright signalled earlier that pressure on the government to change the Dutch policy on downloading was mounting, and this report will likely add to that mounting pressure.

The working group has also made other recommendations, in particular on collecting societies and homecopying levies. According to the working group, the homecopying levy system must be phased out, since the content, not the physical media, should be the basis for pricing and licensing.  Furthermore, the working group wants to bring down the number of collecting societies and improve oversight and transparency.

A debate on copyright in the information society is scheduled for later this year.