European press publishers celebrate World Intellectual Property day

On this year’s World Intellectual Property Day, which focuses on IP and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), European press publishers highlight the role that IP rights, including copyright and related rights, play in promoting innovation, creativity and preserving pluralism at national, regional and global level. IP is a catalyst for economic and social welfare and respect for IPRs must be a key tenet guiding responsible technological development whereby creators and innovators benefit in a fair manner from their work.

The forthcoming adoption of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act and the transposition of the 2019 Copyright DSM Directive into the laws of all Member States constitute important milestones, yet unfortunately insufficient to ensure the respect and fair remuneration of IP. Both in the operation of AI-based language models and in the creation of press-like content, AI systems rely on, and access professional content provided by professional media. The legal and technical means currently available to prevent this are inadequate and place the burden of proof to prove abuse on rightsholders – without them possessing the necessary means to effectively do so.

Now is the time to set eyes on the next EU legislature and continue working towards a solid and future-proof IP framework enabling everyone to benefit from the digital economy whilst duly safeguarding rightsholders’ legitimate intellectual property rights. In this regard, a strong Commission enforcement of the Digital Markets Act is also essential for levelling the playing field in the digital economy.

Ilias Konteas, Executive Director of EMMA and ENPA said: “Intellectual property cannot be dissociated from the SDGs in light of the role of IPRs, including copyright and related rights, in the promotion of creativity and innovation alike, also in developing countries. The success of the SDGs in delivering its vision of economic, social and technological progress depends on promoting ever fairer and more effective IP systems. At EU level, sufficient transparency on the use of protected content in the age of AI, in line with the specific requirements of the different rightsholders to effectively exercise and enforce their rights under EU law will require, as a first step, proper implementation and supervision of the AI Act by the European Commission. Further measures are nevertheless required and must be pursued in the next EU legislature”.