Challenges of the Knowledge Society (May 2021)
ACCESS TO CULTURE IN A DIGITALLY FRAMED EU LAW
Abstract
The digital shift is having a significant impact on the relation we have with culture. Digitisation and online accessibility enable unprecedented forms of engagement. However, new methods of sharing copyright-protected content through the internet raises questions as whether these acts interfere with exclusive copyrights. Moreover, the right to participate in cultural life implies that individuals have access to cultural heritages and that their freedom to continuously (re)create cultural heritage should be protected. Despite institutional initiatives, there is a growing concern that intellectual property rights can exclude the public from accessing and using digital cultural heritage in the public domain. Meanwhile, the current debate about open internet has strong implications for fundamental freedoms…and everywhere in the world the courts are searching for balance…. In the search for a fair balance between various conflicting interests, it is essential to trace what values the Court of Justice of European Union protects. The relevance of the Court's judgments is no more limited to the internal market, being significant for the private life of each of us and for the way in which law builds social relations in cyberspace. The purpose of this paper is to explore the legal base concerning culture in European Union law and in particular the dynamics between digital access to cultural heritage and intellectual property rights.
