Dutch government and Parliament disagree on how to update copyright law

Today a so-called 'general meeting' (Algemeen Overleg) between the Dutch parliamentary copyright committee and Fred Teeven, state secretary of Security and Justice, took place. Point of discussion were the plans to update Dutch copyright law as put forward by Teeven in the policy priority brief Copyright 20©20 (speerpuntenbrief Auteursrecht 20©20). A majority of the committee disagreed with the state secretary's plans to deem unlawful downloading copyright protected content from an apparent illegal source (which is - until this date - allowed under the home copy exception in the Netherlands). The government on the other hand does not back proposals supported by the commission to expand the range of media carriers on which the home copying levy may be levied, such as smartphones and external hard drives (currently the home copy levy is 'frozen' and only includes cd's and dvd's).

A full report of the general meeting is available at Webwereld (in Dutch).

Read more on Teeven's policy priority brief Copyright 20©20 on FutureOfCopyright.com:

• Dutch unions: legalize illegal filesharing, introduce copyright levy on internet
• Dutch Labour Party argues against abolition of Dutch private copy levy in Brussels
• Dutch state secretary Teeven reacts on policy priority brief Copyright 20©20