Overprotective digital-copyright rules, much like the ones that were proposed and rejected at a December 1996 diplomatic conference in Geneva, have resurfaced in the European Community's latest plan to implement the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty. Under the proposals, nations of the European Union would be required to treat almost all temporary and indirect copies of copyrighted works in digital form as "reproductions" subject to copyright regulation. In addition, the legislation would curtail the authority of EU nations to enact or maintain fair or private-use privileges in their national laws. The measure also contains a byzantine provision that would outlaw many legitimate technologies that have incidental infringement-enabling uses.
This may be good news for US high tech companies, as the EC's overzealous copyright proposals could strangle Europe's nascent high technology industry. On the other hand, if copyright maximalism prevails in Europe, Clinton administration officials may try to resurrect similar legislation that has been stalled in Congress for the last two years. Fortunately, Senator John Ashcroft (R-Missouri) and Representatives Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) and Tom Campbell (R-California) have introduced legislation in Congress that is far more enlightened and balanced – in the form of S 1146 and HR 3048. Meanwhile, the European proposal may improve when it's reviewed by the European Parliament and the European Council of Ministers, particularly if opponents lobby for changes along the lines of the Ashcroft-Boucher-Campbell bills.
This article originally appeared in the March issue of Wired magazine.
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