[Ecommerce] Time Ticks Norwegian Fair use

[Manon Ress]

QUOTE:
Like Canada, the Government is concerned that WIPO goes too far.

=93This is something I'm very critical of,=94 Giske said last February, whe=
n
the proposals were introduced. However, the Government is bound by the
demands of the EU.
END OF QUOTE

At:  http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=3D738

Time Ticks on Norwegian Fair-Use
April 6, 2005
Michael Ingram

The Norwegians have always enjoyed flexible copyright laws. Fundamental
fair-use rights have been entrenched in the law, giving the Norwegians
flexibility over their music and other media.

However, as with Canada, international law is moving in on the country,
threatening the consumer-orientated grounds the Norwegian copyright act
is built on.

Last February, proposals were made to change the country=92s copyright act
to comply with a European directive. These changes to the copyright act,
or =C5ndeverksloven, are now being discussed by the Government.

Giske, a spokesman for the Arbeiderpartiet Culture Department, told the
national newspaper, Aftenposten [Norwegian],

=93We must have rules that are reasonable, and still within the EU directiv=
e.=94

Arbeiderpartiet is the country=92s center-right, ruling party.

The European Union passed a directive in 2001, which forced member
countries to implement DMCA style copyright laws, as requested by the
1996 WIPO agreements.

Norway is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), but is not a
full member state. It is a controversial half-in, half-out agreement, in
which Norway agrees to implement European directives.

The Norwegian government says that as a member of the EEA, they must
respond to the demands of the WIPO-induced directive.

Like Canada, the Government is concerned that WIPO goes too far.

=93This is something I'm very critical of,=94 Giske said last February, whe=
n
the proposals were introduced. However, the Government is bound by the
demands of the EU.

The Government started hearings for the new law on Wednesday, April 06.
20 interested organizations have been lobbying to persuade the
Government to vote in their favor.

Representatives of the music industry, drama actors, actors, dancers,
and librarians have all been present.

Opposition to the changes have set up Norwegian language protest website
here. At time of press, the site listed nearly 18, 000 signatures.

However, the Aftenposten newspaper believes that with Arbeiderpartiet in
power, it is likely that the law will be passed.

Amongst other things, the current proposals will affect Jon Lech
Johansen, who=92s work breaking DRM has been declared legal under current
copyright law by the courts. The new law will expressively prohibit
breaking DRM.

This would also impinge on everyday consumers of copyright media, as it
would deny people copying music from their own legally purchased CDs
with copy protection, to their own private MP3 players.

Furthermore, the tougher rules on copying will likely make it easier for
copyright holders to take action against those using P2P networks to
trade copyright material.

The left leaning Venstre party is standing against the proposals,
choosing to support the fair-use rights to copy and play music however
the consumer chooses.

The current discussions will finalize the details on how to implement
the European directive, and which freedoms currently enjoyed by
Norwegians will be lost.





--
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC PO Box 19367,
Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel.:  +1.202.387.8030, fax: +1.202.234.5176

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2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland. Tel: +41 22 791 6727

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