Professor Christophe Geiger, Director General and Director of the research department of the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI): "Fragmented, inflexible, and often irrelevant”: towards needed copyright reform in the EU

In a much-publicised speech in July 2014, Neelie Kroes, former Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, argued that “today, the EU copyright framework is fragmented, inflexible, and often irrelevant”. In fact, European copyright rules have been the subject of intensive discussion and criticism over the last decade. In response, the European Commission has put copyright reform among its top priorities and in December 2015 published a proposal for a regulation on the cross-border portability of online content services together with an ambitious communication entitled “Toward a modern, more European copyright framework”. Further legislative proposals have been announced for 2016 aimed at increasing online access to works across the European Union, and addressing selected limitations and exceptions, alongside non-legislative initiatives in relation to, inter alia, the enforcement of copyright. This presentation will discuss the impact of the current reform process on the legal framework for copyright in the EU. More generally, it will consider whether the proposals are capable of meeting the needs of a truly European and modern information society.

Christophe Geiger is Professor of Law, Director General and Director of the Research Department of the Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) at the University of Strasbourg (France). In addition, he is an affiliated senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich (Germany) as well as Spangenberg Fellow at the Spangenberg Center for Law, Technology & the Arts, Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland (US). He specializes in national, European, international and comparative intellectual property law, acts as external expert for the European Parliament and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), has drafted reports on IP for the European and international institutions and taught as visiting professor in several universities. He is also General Editor of the Collection of the CEIPI published by LexisNexis, co-editor of the EIPIN series published by Edward Elgar, co-editor of the CEIPI-ICTSD Publication Series on “Global Perspectives and Challenges for the Intellectual Property System” and member of the editorial board of several journals on IP law. He has published numerous articles as well as authored and edited many volumes in this field, the most recent being “Criminal Enforcement of Intellectual Property: A Handbook of Contemporary Research” (2012), “Constructing European Intellectual Property: Achievements and New Perspectives” (2013), “Research Handbook on Human Rights and Intellectual Property” (2015) by Edward Elgar, and “What Patent Law for the European Union?” (2013), “The Contribution of Case Law to the Construction of Intellectual Property in Europe” (2013, in French); “Intellectual Property Law in a Globalized World” (with Caroline Rodà, 2014), by LexisNexis.

The series is open to everyone and registration is not required. Seminars are typically held in The Dorfman Room, St Peter’s College at 5.15pm-6:45pm (exceptions are noted on the event page).  Please report to the Porter’s Lodge on arrival for directions. Refreshments are provided. (Please direct enquiries to jennifer.hassan@law.ox.ac.uk).