A group of over 50 academics and civil society organizations has established the Communia Association, a nonprofit based in Brussels dedicated to protecting and growing the public domain. According to its homepage, “The Association’s mission is to educate about, advocate for, offer expertise and research about the public domain in the digital age within society and with policy-makers.” A formal launch ceremony will take place on the 16th of June.
The Communia Association has released a statement containing policy recommendations to reduce the term of copyright protection; reject the proposed term extension of copyright for performers and sound recordings; harmonize the limitations and exceptions of the Copyright Directive; simplify and harmonize rules of copyright duration and territoriality; ensure that use of works in the public domain is not limited by any legal or technical means; disallow false or misleading attempts to misappropriate works in the Public Domain; allow circumvention of technical protection measures for uses protected by limitations and exceptions or when using Public Domain works; allow full copyright protection only for registered works; explore options to guarantee users full access to orphan works; harmonize limitations and exceptions for Memory Institutions; ensure that all content digitized with public funding is publicly available online; strengthen limitations and exceptions for educational and research purposes; broaden the Public Sector Information Directive; and explore alternative reward systems and cultural flat rate models.
The Communia Association webpage is www.communia-association.org
