EP and Council reach an agreement on orphan works

On 6 June, the Council and the European Parliament had a last trilogue meeting to see if a compromise on the Proposal for a Directive could be found.

In a nutshell, it was agreed that a diligent search work by work should be undertaken to establish whether or not a work is orphan. Once the work is deemed orphan, it will have this status all over Europe. Uses must remain not for profit but libraries are entitled to recover the cost of the search and the digitisation of the work.

Also any rightholder that reappears can put an end at any time to this status and (s)he must be compensated for the use.

Finally, the directive remains without prejudice to arrangements in the Member States concerning the management of rights including mass digitisation.

The compromise has still to be formally adopted by both the Parliament and the Council for the directive to be definitive.

Click here for the press release of the European Parliament
Click here for the press release of the Danish Presidency 
Click here for the press release of the Commission