Annual Conference
“The Constitutional Turn in Copyright Law – From human rights, to competition aspects and fairness concerns”
27 May 2022, Nottingham (in-person event)
hosted by the University of Nottingham Commercial Law Centre (UNCLC)
In 2022, the conference’s theme was “The Constitutional Turn in Copyright Law – From human rights, to competition aspects and fairness concerns”. In recent years, the CJEU and national courts have increasingly referred to human rights to justify copyright but also to balance it with other human rights. Post-Brexit, the UK still has retained much of EU law, including copyright law, and still follows CJUE precedents in the field of copyright until now. Likewise, EEA countries and associated countries also have to keep abreast of EU law developments. Therefore the keynote and the following session were essentially devoted to these countries and how human rights and the case law of the CJEU and ECtHR affects them. The human rights discourse has pervaded many areas of copyright among others from the liability of intermediaries (such as art 17 directive 2019/790) to the exceptions and limitations to copyright. Beyond human rights, more general fairness concerns (such as how AI-generated works compete with authored-created works) and competition concerns (such as the use of contracts and TPMs to strengthen copyright) also pervade copyright discourse. The conference touched upon all these topics. That said, while human rights generally provide good checks and balances for copyright potential excesses, they may not be the only solution. The conference closed with discussions on this point.
For the first time, we also included a session especially for students so that they could ask the members of the European Copyright Society questions about postgraduate studies, both masters and doctoral programmes, as well as career opportunities.
The programme can be found below.
Venue
B63 Law and Social Sciences building, University Park Campus, University of Nottingham NG7 2RD
Programme
9.00-9.15 – Welcome address and introduction
Chair Keynote Speech: Prof. Estelle Derclaye
9.15-9.45 – Keynote speech – Lord Justice Arnold, Court of Appeal of England and Wales: The Constitutional Turn: Balancing Copyright and Freedom of Expression in English Law
9.45-10.00 – Discussion
Chair session 1: Prof. Raquel Xalabarder
Copyright as a human right in the EU and associated countries
10.00-10.20 – Dr. Caterina Sganga: The past, present and future of Article 17(2) CFREU
10.20-10.40 – Prof. Ole-Andreas Rognstad: The fundamental rights status of countries associated to the EU: the EEA, the UK and Switzerland
10.40-10.55 – Discussion
Break – 10.55-11.15
Chair Session 2: Prof. Marie-Christine Janssens
Human rights and exceptions to copyright and related rights
11.15-11.35 – Prof. Tatiana Synodinou: Copyright versus freedom of expression (critique, satire and parody)
11.35-11.55 – Prof. Christophe Geiger & Dr. Bernd Justin Jütte: The emergence of the fundamental right to research and its implications for copyright law
11.55-12.15 – Prof. Péter Mezei: The CDSMD and educational limitations and exceptions in Hungary – an empirical analysis
12.15-12.30 – Discussion
12.30-13.30 – Lunch; Venue: Atrium, Law and Social Sciences Building
13.30-14.30 – Postgraduate studies and career session for students; discussion with ECS members
Chair Session 3: Prof. Alexander Peukert
Human rights and the role of intermediaries, the state and other parties in enforcing copyright
14.30-14.50 – Dr. Martin Husovec: (Ir)Responsible Legislature? Speech Risks under the EU’s Rules on Delegated Digital Enforcement
14.50-15.10 – Prof. Martin Kretschmer: Online regulation by proxy? An assessment of Codes of conduct and Codes of practice
15.10-15.45 – Discussion
15.45-16.05 – Break
Chair Session 4: Prof. Alexander Peukert
Copyright, competition aspects and fairness concerns
16.05-16.25 – Prof. Marco Ricolfi: IP and de facto powers in an algorithmic environment
16.25-16.45 – Prof. Martin Senftleben: Safeguarding Human Freedom of Expression, Art Autonomy and Alternative Visions of Society in the Age of AI Systems Substituting Human Literary and Artistic Productions
16.45-17.00 – Discussion
Chair session 5: Prof. Estelle Derclaye
What is the trouble with human rights?
17.00-17.20 – Prof. Jonathan Griffiths: Fundamental Rights in the CJEU’s Copyright Jurisprudence in Review
17.20-17.45 – Prof. Séverine Dusollier: The insufficiency of fundamental rights
17.45-18.00 – Discussion
18.00-18.15 – Closing
Contact: Estelle Derclaye Estelle.Derclaye@nottingham.ac.uk (scientific programme); Ioanna Lapatoura ioanna.lapatoura1@nottingham.ac.uk (administrative matters).
European Copyright Society 