Hearing on the report of the Copyright working party

On October 13th, the report of the Copyright working party, under supervision of Arda Gerkens of the Socialist Party, was discussed in a public hearing in the House of Representatives. All the parties concerned were invited to present their vision on the report and clarify their position. The largest part of the persons present stated that the working party had delivered a good and thorough report that provides a solid basis to move ahead in this issue. Chairman Jan de Vries led the discussion well and critically. Present were, amongst others, representatives of the NVPI, representing the entertainment industry, BREIN, Philips, Consumentenbond, Mininova, Considerati/Futureofcopyright, Buma/Stemra, Stobi, ICT~Office, academia and lawyers specialised in copyright. Mostly, the majority of the parties present repeated their usual statements. However, the questions of the Members of Parliament (amongst others Gerkens, Teeven, Van der Ham and Besselink) and the interventions of the chair created a lively debate.

All parties acknowledged that the current situation is a stalemate that prevents the discussion from moving forward. Considerati’s Bart Schermer pleaded for an increase in cooperation between all parties in a neutral environment and a clarification of the ISP’s position. Prof. Visser explained that a choice must be made between either a fee that remunerates producers of creative content, or stronger action against illegal content so that legal business models get a fair chance. In practice and probably due to the lack of a better alternative, the creative industries cling to the system of fees while at the same time calling for stronger action against illegal content.

The Consumentenbond made an appeal to the content producers not to punish but to seduce consumers, without providing another solution that maintaining the status quo. Meanwhile, nearly all other parties concerned seem aware of the fact that the current situation cannot persist without having severe consequences for the supply of professional content. Even Mininova, represented by Erik Dubbelboer and Niek van der Maas, stated that producers of creative products deserve a reward for their efforts and showed an eagerness to participate in future discussions. This was followed by an interesting discussion with, amongst others, Aldor Nini, an international expert on filtering and removal of content and specialist in file sharing technology. He indicated that it is possible to recognise content and remove illegal products systematically. This opens up possibilities for creating a market for legal content.

The big question on how to continue, remained unanswered. But parties acknowledged that the solution is found more in cooperation and an open attitude to new ideas than in persistently maintaining old statements. In the short term, the vision of the Consumentenbond will remain dominant, but it is clear that almost all the parties concerned want to create a framework within which consumers can easily and conveniently enjoy digital movies, music, games, software, etc while at the same time, those who invest in the creation of these products get the chance to be justly rewarded.