Commission urges Parliament to look at copyright directive again
Addressing the European Parliament's legal committee on 25 January, Internal market Commissioner, Frits Bolkestein, asked the Parliament to reconsider the latest amendments it had made to the copyright in the information society directive, claiming that they favoured one party too strongly. 'The Commission, of course, fully respects the Parliament's position in proposing amendments to this proposed Directive,' said Mr Bolkestein. 'However, Parliament's latest set of amendments strongly favour the interests of one group of interested parties, namely the rightholders, over those of other interested groups,' he added, pointing to consumers, the educational and academic communities and society at large. The Parliament is giving a second reading to the directive.