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Berlin (dpa) - The planned copyright reform in Germany has entered its decisive phase.
In the legal committee of the Bundestag several experts spoke up on Monday - including scientists, legal experts and representatives of authors, the media industry as well as internet platforms and their users.
They all called for changes to the details of the planned extensive reform - with different thrusts.
The committee will make a recommendation for a resolution at a later date, the Bundestag has to decide on the reform.
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At its core, it is, among other things, about this: Copyright should be tailored more closely to the Internet - especially on platforms on which users upload copyrighted works such as images, texts or videos.
In the event of violations, the platforms should be held liable.
With license models, authors are supposed to participate financially in the added value of such platforms.
It is also about contract law for authors and property rights for the services of press publishers.
Germany must have implemented a corresponding EU directive into national law by June.
The Copyright Initiative, which represents authors and artists in Germany, sees great potential in the reform by and large.
The rights of authors and artists who are entitled to direct remuneration are therefore particularly strengthened.
The information situation about their use of the works is also improving.
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Google manager Sabine Frank said in the hearing that YouTube shares the interest of rights holders to prevent any copyright infringement on the platform.
But there is already a license management system (ContentID) that rights holders can use to generate additional income.
Admittedly, Google understands the goal of the draft law to pay authors and creators of content directly.
However, it is feared that the proposed process would make a quick and appropriate distribution to the authors more difficult.
Frank also criticized the fact that according to the draft, even quotations and parodies should be subject to remuneration.
"This is incompatible with European and constitutional law and interferes in an unacceptable way with freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom of the arts."
In the past few months, a passage that allowed the uploading of small excerpts of copyrighted works to Internet platforms had caused trouble in the media, film and music industries, and the authors should receive compensation for this.
Opponents emphasize that the EU does not provide for such a passage in its directive.
The Society of Freedom Rights Association again complained that the federal government had reduced the size of the permitted sections for uploading after massive criticism from the industry.
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As a representative of the local and regional press, the managing director of Aschendorff Medien GmbH & Co. KG, Eduard Hüffer, criticized the passage among other things: «Press photos are basically completely released.
As a result, opportunities for revenue are massively impaired for these rights.
In March, Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) spoke of a major challenge at the first reading on the reform in the Bundestag: to maintain freedom of communication on the Internet and at the same time to better involve creative people and creative industries in adding value in digital space.
"Large upload platforms such as YouTube and Facebook will in future be responsible for all content under copyright law that they make accessible," said Lambrecht.
With a view to the users, she added at the same time that new obligations on the platforms should not lead to permitted content being blocked.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210412-99-177205 / 2
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