Abstract
In its Proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, the European Commission included a new neighbouring right for press publishers with regard to the digital use of their publications “to ensure quality journalism and citizens’ access to information.” (European Commission, 14 September 2016, Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, Doc. COM(2016) 593 final, Art. 11(1) and Recital 31.) Undoubtedly, a free and pluralist press is one of the cornerstones of democratic societies. The question is, however, whether this goal can be achieved by adopting an additional layer of protection. From an economic perspective, it seems essential that publishers, including press publishers, develop new business models in the digital environment. To ensure the survival of quality journalism, it is of utmost importance to support the transition to new business models that has already started in the publishing sector. Hence, the question arises whether the proposal of a new neighbouring right is a legislative initiative that makes sense against this background. To answer this question, the following inquiry will first provide an economic analysis of new business models in the publishing industry. On this basis, it becomes possible to assess the proposal of a new neighbouring right in the light of the need to develop new business models that are sustainable in the digital environment. The analysis will show that the introduction of a new neighbouring right is unlikely to offer support in this respect. Instead, it may even impede or delay necessary modernization steps.
Highlights
In the digital environment, continuously more functions of supplying data and information are carried out by search engines, content aggregators and social media.1 These providers of online information services are not necessarily incumbent publishers
To ensure the survival of quality journalism, it is of utmost importance to support the transition to new business models that has already started in the publishing sector
They have acquired a strong market position by exploiting and leveraging their competitive advantage stemming from in-depth technological knowledge. This forces publishers to adopt new business models and use their specific competitive advantage which lies in particular expertise in the field of transforming raw data and individual information products into complex, interconnected information resources that facilitate and broaden access to the wide variety of sources of knowledge in the digital environment
Summary
Continuously more functions of supplying data and information are carried out by search engines, content aggregators and social media. These providers of online information services are not necessarily incumbent publishers. Continuously more functions of supplying data and information are carried out by search engines, content aggregators and social media.1 These providers of online information services are not necessarily incumbent publishers. Insofar as new business models are not primarily based on the commercialization of individual content but on the exploitation of a publisher’s particular reputation or concept for an information database with added value, other protection regimes in the field of intellectual property enter the picture, in particular trade mark protection and sui generis database rights Against this background, the question arises whether new forms of protection, such as the new neighbouring right proposed by the European Commission, would offer an appropriate incentive for publishers to. Develop new business models and pave the way for the continuance of quality journalism in the digital era. Before addressing this normative question, it is necessary to obtain a better understanding of the disruptive forces impacting the publishing market and requiring the development of new business models
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