Ref. Ares(2018)1833352 - 05/04/2018
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Media Policy
Copyright
Brussels,
CONNECT/I2/VD/lb (2018)
Mr. Mathias Schindler,
Bundestagsbüro Julia Reda, MdEP
Unter den Linden 50
11011 Berlin
Germany
by email: ask+request-5122-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2018/0811
Dear Mr. Schindler,
I refer to your mail dated 05/02/2018 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 08/02/2018 under the above-mentioned reference number. I
also refer to the holding reply sent on 28/02/2018 and to the calls you had with my
colleagues on 27/02/2018 and on 27/03/2018.
1.
SCOPE OF YOUR APPLICATION
You request access to:
"
Any document since 2015 that relates to an ancillary copyright ("Leistungsschutzrecht"
für Presseverleger), both referring to existing or proposed laws in EU Member states as
well as any information relating to the introduction of such right into EU legislation. For
your assistance, the information sought for is sometimes called "publishers' right",
"neighbouring right" or similar.
In case documents are classified or cannot be released because of exceptions or special
treatment, I am asking for the name and the reference number of this document.
I am especially but not exclusively looking for information in the form of proposals,
memos, studies, notes, meeting records, letters to Commissioner Oettinger and his
successors and Cabinet staff members dealing with EU copyright and the protection of
press publishers by application or amendment of EU copyright law. I do not consent to
any narrowing of the scope or to the discarding of information if it is considered
"unimportant" or has not yet been filed, archived or registered. This includes draft notes
and internal correspondence.
If information under the scope of regulation 1049/2001 is not held by DG CNECT but by
the Commission, the Commissioner or another DG or Commission unit, I would like this
information to be included in this request.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË — Tel. +32 22991111
CNECT I2, Telephone: +32 229-58842, xxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
In order to prevent duplication of work, the request refers to documents that were not
released via the Access to Documents request 2016/4441."
2.
DOCUMENTS FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE REQUEST
I consider your request to cover documents from 08.08.16 until the date of your application
(i.e. 05/02/2018).
As agreed with you, we send you today a first list of documents falling within the scope of
your request contained in Annex I. You will do our best to send you the rest of the
documents falling within the scope of your request by the end of April as agreed.
Documents contained in Annex I
Following an examination of these documents n° 1 to 18 and taking into account the
consultation of third parties according to which they did not object to their disclosure, I have
come to the conclusion that all these documents may be partially disclosed, only expunged
from personal data. I enclose a copy of them in Annex I.
Documents n° 1 to 12 are letters sent by the Commission to third parties. Documents n° 13
to 18 are letters and documents sent by third parties to the Commission. Please note that the
documents received by the Commission from third parties are disclosed for information
only. They do not reflect the position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
Certain parts of these documents containing personal data of Commission officials or third
persons have been expunged. Their disclosure would undermine the protection of privacy
and the integrity of the individual, in particular in accordance with Union legislation
regarding the protection of personal data (Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation 1049/2001). The
applicable legislation in this field is Regulation 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the
processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free
movement of such data (hereinafter "Regulation 45/2001")1.
When access is requested to documents containing personal data, Regulation 45/2001
becomes fully applicable2. According to Article 8(b) of Regulation 45/2001, personal data
shall only be transferred to recipients if they establish the necessity of having the data
transferred to them and if there is no reason to assume that the legitimate rights of the
persons concerned might be prejudiced.
I consider that, with the information available, the necessity of disclosing the
aforementioned personal data to you has not been established and that it cannot be assumed
that such disclosure would not prejudice the legitimate rights of the persons concerned.
Therefore, we are disclosing a version of the above mentioned documents in which these
personal data have been redacted.
1 Official Journal L 8 of 12.1.2001, p. 1
2 Judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 29 June 2010 in case 28/08 P, Commission/The Bavarian
Lager Co. Ltd, ECR 2010 I-06055.
2
In case you would disagree with the assessment that the expunged data are personal data
which can only be disclosed if such disclosure is legitimate under the rules of personal data
protection, you are entitled, in accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, to
make a confirmatory application (following the procedure specified at the bottom of this
letter) requesting the Commission to review this position.
Other publicly available documents
In addition, I would like to inform you that the website of the Commission contains
extensive informatio
n on the modernization of EU copyright rules (e.g. proposals adopted
by the Commission, impact assessment accompanying the proposal, studies and public
consultations). I invite you to consult these pages which are regularly updated (particularly
the news section).
Several parliamentary questions for which the Commission has provided an answer are also
related to the object of your request. Please find below a table with their references as well
as a link to the Commission’s answer.
Reference MEP
Question
Answer
Joint answer given by Vice-
Digital single market and tax
President Ansip on behalf of the
E-007431-
on content
Commission
Giulia Moi
16
Written questions: E-007431/16 ,
E-008702/16
E-008136-
Answer given by Mr Oettinger on
Dubravka Šuica
Free online information
16
behalf of the Commission
E-005931-
Commission consultation on Answer given by Mr Oettinger on
Daniel Dalton
16
ancillary copyright
behalf of the Commission
Anneleen Van
Answer given by Vice-President
E-008707-
Directive 2001/29/EC
and
Bossuyt, Sander
Ansip on behalf of the
16
payments to publishers
Loones
Commission
Answer given by Vice-President
E-008847-
Concerns about copyright fees
Syed Kamall
Ansip on behalf of the
16
in the Digital Single Market
Commission
Answer given by Vice-President
E-000837-
Franz Obermayr
EU copyright law
Ansip on behalf of the
17
Commission
Civil society's views on
ancillary rights in response to Answer given by Vice-President
E-003148-
Nessa Childers
the public consultation on the Ansip on behalf of the
17
role of publishers in the Commission
copyright value chain
Neighbouring rights, media
E-005439-
Joint answer given by Ms Gabriel
Nessa Childers
staff pay and journalistic
17
on behalf of the Commission
investment
3
3.
CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled to make a
confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review the above positions.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon receipt
of this letter to the Secretary-General of the Commission at the following address:
European Commission
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-4
BERL 5/327
B-1049 Brussels
or by email to
: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
'e-signed'
Marco GIORELLO
Head of Unit
4
Electronically signed on 05/04/2018 16:19 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563
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