The Economic Rights of the Author in the Digital Environment

a) The research studied the different national approaches concerning the communication to the public right in order to examine the level of harmonisation and to consider the possibility of the modernisation of the communication to the public right in order to make it more effective.

b) The research focused on the breadth of the communication to the public. The task was very complicated because most of the European member states, inspired from the Berne Convention, follow an analytical approach concerning this right and introduce a bunch of relevant detailed rights in their legislation.

In the absence of a common definition at European level, it was necessary to distinctly study all possible ways of immaterial exploitation of the works. The research first examines the direct public presentations of the works (exposition of art works, public performance in the presence of the public or transmitted by loudspeakers and screens, cinematographic projection).

Then the analysis focuses on the broadcasting right. Given that the way the market works has completely changed and the fact that convergence of the media demands a more neutral approach, the viability of this right (especially of the right of satellite transmission and cable retransmission) is under question. In this context, the study examines the secondary transmissions (transmission in hotel rooms and other professional places, intervention of satellite and cable providers, simulasting) and answers the question of the applicability of the right of communication to the public in these cases.

The notion of webcasting is then analyzed. The question is whether it is possible to apply the broadcasting provisions to live streaming. Such an application is not appropriate. Any reference to the technology used (cable or satellite) in order to effectuate the transmission, is unsuitable and doesn’t correspond to the European neutrality objective. However, this does not mean that the application of the mandatory collective management is not appropriate or desirable.