Licences For Europe – A New Frontier For Digital Content?

The European Commission's Licences for Europe stakeholder dialogue concluded in Brussels earlier this month with a number of pledges to help European citizens overcome barriers to the circulation of content in the digital age.

It focused on four areas: cross-border access and portability of services; user-generated content and micro-licensing; audiovisual heritage; and text and data mining.

Key pledges include:

• Working to improve cross-border portability of audiovisual services, enabling consumers to legally access films and TV programmes from their member states when travelling in Europe.
• Introducing multi-territory "one-click micro-licences" for the small-scale use of music online, which should provide legal certainty to those using music on their own websites or posting videos to other sites.