EU copyright rules will not apply post-Brexit

The EU Commission has announced that, in the absence of a transitional agreement stating otherwise, EU copyright rules will no longer apply in the UK after Brexit.

The Commission published the notice to stakeholders regarding copyright and Brexit today, March 28.

It noted that the UK is a contracting party to “many of the main” copyright treaties, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Copyright Treaty. This means that, following the UK’s departure from the EU, an international framework will govern the protection of copyright and related rights in the UK.

However, the EU provides for certain cross-border measures for the benefit of right owners in a manner which has “no counterpart in the international conventions”, the notice warned.

For example, following Brexit, UK-based broadcasters will not benefit from directive 93/83/EEC which provides that, when orchestrating satellite communication, copyright needs to be obtained by the broadcaster only in the member state where the signal is introduced.

After Brexit, broadcasters in the UK will need to obtain rights in all member states that they will be broadcasting into.

EU law also provides for certain cultural institutions to benefit from mutual recognition of orphan works. Orphan works are creative works or performances which are copyright-protected, but the owner/s is/are unknown or cannot be located or contacted.

The directive allows a work to be made available across all member states once it is recognised as an orphan work in one member state. But, post-Brexit, orphan works recognised in the UK will not be recognised in the EU, and vice versa.

When the UK leaves the EU, it will not benefit from directive 2017/1564, which allows visually impaired people to access copies of protected works. Those in the UK will be unable to obtain copies from authorised entities in the EU, and vice versa.

The European Commission said regulation 2017/1128 will also not apply in the UK following Brexit. The regulation allows a subscriber to a content streaming service to access that service from another member state, regardless of the content’s legal status in the state.

The announcement comes shortly after the EU and UK government released a draft agreement confirming that the owners of EU trademarks, Community designs, plant variety rights and database rights will have their rights protected in the UK following the transitional period, due to end on December 31, 2020.

According to the draft agreement, right owners will become the owners of a comparable right in the UK without any re-examination following Brexit.

EU Commission, notice to stakeholders on copyright, Brexit agreement, Brexit and IP, World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty, TRIPS