The YouTube generation has gained an ally in the worldwide « copyright wars ». The Dutch government wants to change copyright law so new media users can continue to do « creative remixes » of protected content. The Hague will no longer wait for the European Commission to find a compromise.
« We all love YouTube », says Bernt Hugenholtz of the Dutch state committee on copyright law. […] « We all agree that it’s good for creativity, good for laughs, and no one gets hurt. Copyright holders are not harmed, so it makes a lot of sense to allow this. But in Europe, where we do not have open norms like the fair use doctrine in the United States, we can’t do these things without infringing the law. » […]
Hugenholtz, copyright law professor at the University of Amsterdam, discussed his views last Friday with representatives of European governments, the entertainment industry, internet entrepreneurs, legal experts, journalists and librarians. They were gathered in The Hague for « Towards Flexible Copyright », a conference organised by the Dutch government. […]
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/loosen-copyright-law-says-dutch-government