[Ecommerce] "Bundestag" adopts Copyright in the Information Society Act"

[Manon Anne Ress]

New provisions on protection of technological measures to prevent or 
restricts acts not authorized and provision concerning limitations of 
fair use for teaching or research...

http://www.ipr-helpdesk.org/controlador.jsp?cuerpo=noticiasCuerpo&seccion=noticiaseventos&tipoListado=all&id=0000002702&len=en

Germany. "Bundestag" adopts Copyright in the Information Society Act

On 11 April 2003, the German "Bundestag" (the Lower House of Parliament) 
adopted the "Gesetz zur Regelung des Urheberrechts in der 
Informationsgesellschaft" (Copyright in the Information Society Act) as 
proposed by its Committee of Legal Affairs. The main purpose of the Act 
is to implement certain provisions of Directive 2001/29/EC of 22 May 
2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related 
rights in the information society into German law. (The deadline for the 
implementation was 22 December 2002.) The aforementioned Directive 
contains inter alia provisions necessary to comply with the WIPO 
Copyright Treaty (WCT) and of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms 
Treaty (WPPT), which, by means of the new Act, are incorporated into 
German national law as well.

The Copyright in the Information Society Act introduces into German law, 
amongst other things, a novel "right of making available to the public" 
and provisions concerning the lawfulness of digital reproductions for 
private use as well as the legal protection of technological measures 
designed to prevent or restrict acts not authorised by the rightholder 
of copyrights or related rights.

Besides, the Act intends to adapt the existing German provisions on the 
lawfulness of the use of copyright works without authorization by the 
rightholder to the digital environment. § 52a of the Act, a novel 
provision concerning limitations to the right of making available to the 
public for the benefit of teaching or scientific research, has caused 
particularly controversial discussions.



  2nd and 3rd reading and adoption of the Copyright in the Information 
Society Act by the German "Bundestag" (Minutes 15/41 of the sitting of 
11 April 2003; in German):

   » dip.bundestag.de

Report and draft legislative resolution by the Committee on Legal 
Affairs of the German ,,Bundestag" of 9 April 2003 (BT-Drs. 15/837; in 
German):

   » dip.bundestag.de

Bill of the German federal government of 6 November 2002 with 
justification (BT-Drs. 15/38, in German):

   » dip.bundestag.de

The legislative procedure (in German):

   » dip.bundestag.de

Directive 2001/29/EC of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain 
aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society:

   » europa.eu.int

Related IPR Helpdesk news item:

   » www.ipr-helpdesk.org

-- 
Manon Anne Ress
Consumer Project on Technology
www.cptech.org
PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
manon.ress@cptech.org, voice: 1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176