The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling for a harmonisation of EU copyright law and the introduction of multi-country licensing. The move comes in response to the growing threat of online copyright infringement, which the parliament said is a problem for the economy and requires a response at EU level. The MEPs recommend the removal of barriers to a single digital market by granting EU-wide copyright licences for products like music, books and films. The parliament asked the European Commission to propose a comprehensive strategy on intellectual property rights, which should remove obstacles to creating a single market in the online environment and adapt the European legislative framework to current trends in society as well as technical developments. A pan-European licensing system should provide consumers with "access to the widest possible choice of content and not at the expense of European local repertoire", said the resolution. Dialogue on possible solutions must involve all stakeholders, including internet service providers, said the MEPs. Furthermore, they want safeguards for "private copies" as an exception to intellectual property rights, which would allows individuals who copy originals for private use not to have to prove that their copies are legitimate. Parliament also wants the Commission to set up more intellectual property helpdesks in third countries (notably in India and Russia), to help European entrepreneurs enforce their intellectual property rights more actively and to combat the entry into the EU internal market of counterfeit goods from such countries. The MEPs point out that there is not enough data on breaches of intellectual property rights and they called for independent studies to be carried out before any new legislation is proposed.
