CISAC Comments on roles of Internet intermediaries to Council of Europe

CISAC submitted its comments to the Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) of the Council of Europe on the Draft Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the roles and responsibilities of Internet intermediaries, which is to be adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in early 2018.

The Council of Europe is an international organization with 47 member states, whose mission is to protect and promote human rights, the rule of law and democracy. The Committee of Ministers is the decision-making body of the Council of Europe, composed of Ministers for Foreign Affairs from its Member States. One of its subordinate bodies is the Committee of Experts on Internet Intermediaries (MSI-NET), which prepared and published the Draft Recommendation.

CISAC presented its comments to the Draft Recommendation on 24 August 2017 to draw attention to the creative sector’s concerns in regards to the legal system of the responsibility of Internet intermediaries. CISAC´s comments were also sent to the Heads of the Permanent Representations of the Council of Europe´s member states.  

CISAC’s opinion was based on fundamental agreements including: the Charter of Human Rights of the European Union, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Council of Europe and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as on relevant case-law from the European Court of Human Rights and Resolutions by international organisations like UNESCO and the European Parliament.

CISAC acknowledges that the safeguarding of fundamental rights on the Internet, such as freedom of expression, privacy and personal data protection mentioned in the Draft Recommendation are key, but it points out that intellectual property is also a fundamental right that deserves equal protection.

In particular, CISAC's comments express concern that the Draft Recommendation overlooks the challenges for the creative sector in the digital environment and the need to safeguard authors’ rights. CISAC proposes amendments in order to address the transfer of value; the need to achieve a fair and balance remuneration system in the digital market; the need to ensure the protection of creative content through the implementation of effective technical and administrative measures as well as the cooperation between Internet intermediaries and right holders.