Mass Digitisation of Out-of-Commerce Works
7.7.2015
Question for written answer E-010932-15
to the Commission
Rule 130
Catherine Stihler (S&D)
In 2005 six EU heads of state wrote to Commission President Barroso requesting that the Commission promote the digitisation of European culture. This focused in particular on in-copyright materials from the twentieth century which are not available electronically.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Mass Digitisation of Out-of-Commerce Works was signed in 2011 by representatives of authors, publishers, libraries and visual artists, as well as by the then Commissioner for the internal market, Michel Barnier.
However, three quarters of Member States still lack legislation to enable the mass digitisation of published materials which are no longer commercially available, and none of the Member States’ solutions work across jurisdictional borders.
What is the Commission doing in the context of the Digital Single Market agenda to address the issue of mass digitisation by libraries and archives of:
- —materials that were commercially produced but are no longer available in the marketplace, in line with the MoU; and
- —materials from archives that were not produced for commercial purposes in the first place but are of great historical and political importance?