Conference announcement

Rethinking copyright flexibilities

A conference organized by the Department of Law of the University of Cyprus, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Pisa) and the H2020 project reCreating Europe

 

Nicosia, 31 October – 1 November 2022

 

The relationship of copyright law with the public interest is nowadays often seen as unbalanced, biased, or dysfunctional. The evolution and structure of EU copyright law is characterized by an approach which emphasizes a rigid protection of private interests of right holders whilst lacking a systematic reflection on copyright flexibilities. However, flexibility is not foreign to copyright law principles; on the contrary, it is an organic component of copyright discourse and practice over the three centuries of its existence.

Copyright law addresses issues related to access to culture, participation to cultural life, dissemination of information, creativity, freedom of art and science. Copyright law is designed as a principle-based legal framework that should ensure and provide the flexibility needed in these fields. The overall delicate equilibrium between right holders’ prerogatives and users’ interests and freedoms and the inherent limitations of copyright law are core elements of this flexibility. Additionally, the enhanced role of copyright law as a regulatory framework in the digital sphere increases the need for both flexibility and clarity regarding access and use of copyright-protected works.  In parallel, the never-ending EU harmonization pushes for detailed rules and compromises that affect this flexibility.

In this context, and in the occasion of the launch of the Copyright Flexibilities database developed by the H2020 project reCreating Europe, the conference aims to provide some critical thinking concerning the present and future of copyright flexibilities in European copyright law and their evolutionary paths. The conference critically discusses the state of the art and evolution of copyright flexibilities in Europe, exploring their types, forms, limits, dynamics and perspectives, also in light of the most recent interventions of the EU legislators and landmark decisions of the Court of Justice of the EU, and debate opportunities and need for legislative reform.

 

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