15 April 2019
Marking the final stage in the passage of the Copyright Directive in the EU, the Council of the European Union has now formally adopted the Directive. This follows the decision of the European Parliament to support this vital piece of legislation at the end of March.
The Copyright Directive will now be published in the Official Journal of the EU, after which Member States have two years to implement the Directive.
The Society of Authors has campaigned in favour of the Copyright Directive alongside cultural organisations across Europe. It contains various provisions which will benefit authors, and it is vital that these are soon transposed into UK law as soon as possible. You can read more about our views on the Directive here.
Nicola Solomon, Chief Executive of the Society of Authors, said:
“The Copyright Directive will modernise copyright for the digital age and introduce vital reforms to strengthen authors’ rights. These include a new transparency obligation for publishers, a bestseller clause and a new right of reversion.
“We are delighted that it has received final approval by the EU, which follows many years of intense debate and discussion.
“As the UK is still a member of the European Union we expect the UK Government to implement the Directive. We urge Ministers to waste no time in initiating this process, and we look forward to working closely with government and industry to ensure that the provisions are introduced and made to work in practice.”