Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs discusses User Generated Content

Two weeks ago during the WCIT2010 Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Maria van der Hoeven announced that her Ministry will look into the possibilities of a copyright exception for user generated content. The Ministry wants to stimulate the development of user generated content by taking away any unecessary barriers.

Dutch professionals and stakeholders have been invited by the Ministry to discuss the possibilities of such an exception via Twitter (hashtag #exUGC) and a Linkedin discussion group.

It will not be possible to introduce an exception at the national level since copyright law is governed by the European Union. Therefore, the results of the discussion will be used by the Ministry to lobby in Europe.