Copyright in the times of the internet—overcoming the principle of territoriality within the EU

• Published in: ERA-Forum 2017-04, Vol.18 (1), p.7-19
• Main Author: Dreier, Thomas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: European Integration; Law; Law and Criminology; Political Science; Public International Law
• ISSN: 1612-3093; 1863-9038
• DOI: 10.1007/s12027-017-0462-7

Although the internet allows global accessibility to copyrighted material and although within the European Union, the single market denotes a common economic area without national borders, copyright, like any other intellectual property ( IP ) rights, is still governed by the principle of territoriality. According to this principle, IP rights are not universal, but are limited both in their scope and their effect to the territory of the state under the laws of which they have been granted. The principle of territoriality is therefore at odds with both the global nature of the internet and the single market of the European Union. The article first describes the effects of the principle of territoriality in the area of copyright and analyses its effects within the European Union. It then highlights the different attempts which have so far been undertaken to overcome these effects within the EU. In particular, it discusses the latest proposals of the EU Commission to partially replace the principle of territoriality with the principle of country of origin, and asks whether this new development will ultimately lead to a unitary European copyright title.