Copyright Law Near in Europe

Tuesday, January 23rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) â€” At a final hearing Wednesday on updating European copyright laws for the digital age, music industry lobbyists will be arguing for last-ditch language to restrict private copying.

Industry officials argue that the shape of the final directive, which as been hotly debated for more than three years, will determine in part the viability of selling music online in Europe.

The tussle over what constitutes copying for private use â€” which is permitted under current law â€” is ``very important and very disputed'', said Nikos Tziorkas, spokesman for the European Parliament's Legal Affairs and Internal Market committee.

The music industry says the directive's current wording is too vague and should incorporate more specific language in order to discourage Napster-like sharing of songs among a large group of people, which the Internet makes easy.

``We don't have a problem if someone copies a piece of music for their car or summer house or teen-age daughter,'' said Francine Cunningham, spokeswoman for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in Brussels.

``We don't consider it to be private copying if you copy a piece of music and then e-mail it to 100 contacts on the Internet,'' she added. The IFPI is backing one of more than 200 amendments before the committee that would restrict private copying to ``private use.''

Europe's major music companies and other rightsholders are pitched against hardware manufacturers, telecommunications companies and CD makers on other issues as well, including how much leeway individual countries will have to grant exceptions to the rules.

Copyright holders, such as the record industry, the software industry and performers, want amendments that would allow an EU committee to oversee the practice. They argue that otherwise, there won't be a true single copyright standard for Europe, and hardware and content producers will have to cater for 15 different markets.

Committee member Arlene McCarthy said that while ``it's too early to say'' what way the votes will go, she believed the Parliament was ``leaning in the direction of strengthening rights'' to favor those holding the copyright.

European lawmakers have been sympathetic to copyright holders in past debates, viewing such a stance as a way to support European culture and investment in creative industries.

The committee was to take up the amendments Wednesday afternoon, then send the final version to a committee vote next week. It then would go to the full Parliament in mid-February.

If approved there without major changes, it would then be sent to European governments for ratification, which is considered a formality.

But if substantial amendments pass, observers worry that member states will reject the proposal, resulting in further delay.

The legislation would serve as the 15-nation European Union's adoption of a 1996 treaty drafted by the World Intellectual Property Organization, which covers copyright issues.

EU ratification would tip it over the minimum number of countries needed to come into force around the world.

Two years after the WIPO treaty, the United States implemented it through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which among other restrictions requires that ``Webcasters'' pay licensing fees to record companies.