Copyright and related rights in the information society. Follow up to the Green paper

Adopting the report by Mr Roberto BARZANTI (PSE, I), the European Parliament called for a single legislative initiative to address the three outstanding problems, viz. reproduction rights, the right of communication to the public and the right of distribution. Performers would have the exclusive rights of authorizing direct or indirect reproduction. Parliament regretted that it had not been possible to reach agreement with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on related rights for performers in the audiovisual field, but welcomed the contribution made by the new agreement to the related rights of disk producers and radio performers. It reiterated the importance of the Union's taking a single stand during the negotiation process and called on the Member States to ratify agreements adopted quickly and on the Commission to extend and complete the procedures applicable to copyright and related rights. Parliament considered that problems connected with developments in digital technology needed to be addressed by defining a complete legal framework incorporating European measures to combat piracy.�