Cross-Border Extended Collective Licensing: A Solution to Online Dissemination of Europe’s Cultural Heritage?

An issue which recently has gained increased attention from legislators is how to stimulate the digitization and online availability of the collections held by libraries, museums and other cultural institutions - sometimes referred to as our “common heritage” - and at the same time give full respect to established copyright norms. At European level, this attention is evident in the Digital Libraries Initiative, the Communication from the European Commission on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy, the Commission’s Digital Agenda for Europe and its recent Communication on a Single Market for Intellectual Property Rights. Inherent in these policy documents is the recognition that the new information technologies have created vast opportunities to make the common heritage of Europe more accessible for users online. It is also a shared belief that such access - if coherent with basic copyright principles - will be for the mutual benefit of users, right holders and the society at large. In line with this the Commission has supported the creation and development of a common access point for Europe’s cultural heritage,

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