“Copyright reform is about making sure that people can enjoy and access creative and cultural content in their digital lifestyles; it is about facilitating the life of service providers to be able to provide access to content; and about ensuring that while we enjoy and have access to content that exists, we continue to invest in opportunities of having new content by ensuring lawful access to content.”

MEP Therese Comodini Cachia made these remarks during the Digital Assembly 2016 an event co-organised by the European Commission and the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union in Bratislava, Slovakia. Comodini Cachia who is EPP Group spokesperson on copyright said that both creators and consumers need to be assured of their rights in the digital single market.

During a briefing on Modernisation of the EU copyright rules followed by a Question and Answer session with stakeholders to discuss the update of the Copyright Framework proposed on 14th September 2016 by the European Commission, Comodini Cachia stated that the reform could make new digital opportunities more accessible to sectors such as research, education and cultural heritage preservation.  She added “This is our opportunity at making culture more available across borders. It is also our opportunity to support teachers in classrooms and eLearning processes as well as unleash the potential of data analysis.” 

Comodini Cachia added that the copyright reform was an important step forward to bridge the gap between analogue and digital opportunities for cultural and creative content and for stakeholders including end users. She emphasised that copyright should not be seen as a barrier for creative and cultural content to thrive online. “I want consumers to have better access to more films, music, art, performances and other cultural content.” 

The Digital Assembly 2016 with the theme "Putting the Digital Single Market at the heart of Europe" was attended by high-level officials from EU Member States and European Institutions, policy-makers, representatives of industry and academia, start-ups and NGOs. The Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the Slovak Vice-Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, European Commission's Vice-President Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Günther Oettinger were also present. The next Digital Assembly will be held in Valletta, Malta.