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< EUROPEAN COPYRIGHT REFORM > IMPACT ON FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE AND DEVELOPER COMMUNITIES




} by OpenForum Europe & FSFE SEPTEMBER 2017

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European Copyright reform: Impact on Free and Open Source Software and developer communities

/ Foreword ‘I do not think that anyone would disagree that creators and right holders should and must receive a fair and balanced compensation for the exploitation of their works. However, this should be achieved without negative impacts to open source’s contribution to the digital economy, nor to the internet freedoms of our European developers and consumers. With deliberations on the Copyright proposal having finally started in the Council and the European Parliament’s lead Legal Affairs Committee I hope to see that the final outcome of these deliberations strikes the right balance by: safeguarding the existing legal framework and established CJEU case law, adopting a technologically neutral approach and at the same time respecting and upholding end-user fundamental rights and freedoms’.

< MEP Catherine Stihler is Vice Chair of the Committee for Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). She is the rapporteur for the IMCO Opinion on the proposal for a directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market.