Europe’s Publishers Welcome Clarification On IPR Treaty

22 February 2012

Welcoming Commissioner Karel De Gucht’s clarification today about what ACTA (the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is and is not, Angela Mills Wade, Executive Director of the European Publishers Council (EPC) said, "The EPC welcomes the European Commission’s decision to refer the ACTA Treaty to the Court of Justice. Although this will inevitably lead to a delay in the ratification process, we are confident that the Court will uphold the legality of ACTA’s provisions.”

Furthermore Wade Mills highlighted the clear statements from the Commission in the wake of unprecedented rumour and misinformation that “ACTA will not censor websites or shut them down; ACTA will not hinder freedom of the internet or freedom of speech. ACTA will change nothing about how we use the internet and social websites today since it does not introduce any new rules. ACTA only helps to enforce what is already law today.”

The EPC has been proactive in putting the record straight that ACTA is a balanced and reasonable treaty that fully respects fundamental rights without changing any part of any EU law. It simply establishes common procedures for dealing with IPR infringements across countries accounting for 50% of world trade. Contrary to aggressive anti-business lobbying, ACTA will have a positive impact on protecting Europe’s industries, jobs and people.

Mills Wade added: “Failure to ratify ACTA would jeopardise the future of secure copyright protection at EU level just at the moment when the European Commission is about to review the copyright directive.”

Earlier this month, the EPC together with other IPR sectors co-signed important letters that were sent to MEPs, national Ministers and the European Commission expressing support for ACTA, calling for a calm and reasoned assessment of the facts rather than taking decisions on the basis of hysterical misinformation. Letters available on request.

www.epceurope.org

or read here for full statement:

Statement by Commissioner Karel De Gucht on ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement)
''I am glad to say that this morning my fellow Commissioners have discussed and agreed in general with my proposal to refer the ACTA agreement to the European Court of Justice.

We are planning to ask Europe’s highest court to assess whether ACTA is incompatible - in any way - with the EU's fundamental rights and freedoms, such as freedom of expression and information or data protection and the right to property in case of intellectual property.

As you are no doubt aware, within the EU institutional process, the European Commission has already passed ACTA to national governments for ratification. The Council has adopted ACTA unanimously in December and authorised Member States to sign it. The Commission has also passed on ACTA to the European Parliament for debate and a future vote.

That said, I believe the European Commission has a responsibility to provide our parliamentary representatives and the public at large with the most detailed and accurate information available. So, a referral will allow for Europe’s top court to independently clarify the legality of this agreement.

In recent weeks, the ratification process of ACTA has triggered a Europe-wide debate on ACTA, the freedom of the internet and the importance of protecting Europe’s Intellectual Property for our economies.

But let me be very clear: I share people’s concern for these fundamental freedoms. I welcome that people have voiced their concerns so actively especially over the freedom of the internet. And I also understand that there is uncertainty on what ACTA will really mean for these key issues at the end of the day.

So I believe that putting ACTA before the European Court of Justice is a needed step. This debate must be based upon facts and not upon the misinformation or rumour that has dominated social media sites and blogs in recent weeks.

As I have explained before the European Parliament on several occasions, ACTA is an agreement that aims to raise global standards of enforcement of intellectual property rights. These very standards are already enshrined in European law. What counts for us is getting other countries to adopt them so that European companies can defend themselves against blatant rip-offs of their products and works when they do business around the world.

This means that ACTA will not change anything in the European Union, but will matter for the European Union.

Intellectual property is Europe’s main raw material, but the problem is that we currently struggle to protect it outside the European Union. This hurts our companies, destroys jobs and harms our economies. This is where ACTA will change something for all of us - as it will help protect jobs that are currently lost because counterfeited and pirated goods worth 200 billion Euros are floating around on the world markets.

So let me be clear: ACTA will change nothing about how we use the internet and social websites today since it does not introduce any new rules. ACTA only helps to enforce what is already law today.

ACTA will not censor websites or shut them down; ACTA will not hinder freedom of the internet or freedom of speech.

Let's cut through this fog of uncertainty and put ACTA in the spotlight of our highest independent judicial authority: the European Court of Justice.

This clarity should help support a calm, reasoned, open and democratic discussion on ACTA - whether at the national or at the European level. We will also be in contact with the other European institutions to explain this step and why it would make sense that they make the same move.''
Further information on ACTA:
* What is ACTA about
* ACTA - full text (EN)

EPC Members:
Ms Sly Bailey, Chief Executive, Trinity Mirror plc, UK
Dr Carlo de Benedetti, Chairman, Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso, Italy
Mr Jonas Bonnier, CEO, Bonnier AB, Sweden
Mr Oscar Bronner, Publisher & Editor in Chief, Der Standard, Austria
Mr Bernd Buchholz, Chief Executive, Gruner + Jahr, Germany
Dr Hubert Burda, Chairman and CEO, Burda Media, Germany
Mr Juan Luis Cebrian, CEO, Groupo Prisa, Spain
Dr Mathias Döpfner, Chief Executive, Axel Springer AG, Germany
Mr Erik Engstrom, Chief Executive, Reed Elsevier,
Mr. Luis Enriquez, CEO, Vocento, Spain
Ms Rona Fairhead, Chief Executive, Financial Times Group, UK
Dr Stefan von Holtzbrinck, President and Chairman of the Executive Board, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH, Germany
Mr Mr Harri-Pekka Kaukonen, CEO, Sanoma Corporation, Finland
Mr Steffen Kragh, President and CEO, The Egmont Group, Denmark
Mr Murdoch MacLennan, Chief Executive, Telegraph Media Group Ltd, UK
Mr Andrew Miller, Chief Executive, Guardian Media Group, UK
Mr Tom Mockridge, Chief Executive Officer, News International Ltd, UK
Mr James Murdoch, Chairman and CEO, News Corporation, Europe and Asia
Mr Piotr Niemczycki CEO, Agora, Poland
Mr Denis Olivennes, Chairman and CEO, Lagardère Active, France
Sir Anthony O’Reilly, President Emeritus, Independent News & Media PLC, Ireland
Mr Antonello Perricone, CEO, RCS Media Group SpA Italy
Mr. Panayotis Psycharis, CEO, Lambrakis Press Group, Greece
Mr Michael Ringier, President, Ringier, Switzerland
The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Rothermere, Chairman, Daily Mail and General Trust, UK
Mr Rolv Erik Ryssdal, CEO, Schibsted, Norway
Mr Jim Smith, Chief Executive, Thomson Reuters
Mr Christian Van Thillo, Chief Executive, De Persgroep, Belgium

ENDS

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