WRITTEN QUESTION E-3348/03 by Johanna Boogerd-Quaak (ELDR) to the Commission. Project Gutenberg — making digital copies of books whose copyright has expired.
Date: 2003-11-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: approximation of laws, book trade, copyright, cultural heritage, cultural transmission, digitisation

C 78 E/268

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Upon receipt of the Honourable Member’s written question, the Commission has contacted the national
authorities at EBST and requested it the information concerning the two associations, Fair Play and Etnisk
Debatforum. EBST confirms that a search in the project database OPUS demonstrates that, to date, neither
of these two organisations has received any ESF-funds under the Danish Objective 2, Objective 3 or
EQUAL programme (2000-2006), nor in the previous ESF programming period (1994-1999).

The Commission is closely monitoring the follow-up to the findings and allegations concerning POEM by
the Danish Managing Authority and its control service.

(2004/C 78 E/0268)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3348/03

by Johanna Boogerd-Quaak (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 November 2003)

Subject: Project Gutenberg (cid:1) making digital copies of books whose copyright has expired

1.

Is the Commission aware of Project Gutenberg?

Does it consider this a laudable initiative, preserving an important part of European history and

2.
culture and making it available to all Europeans?

3.
Is the Commission aware that the volunteers working on Project Gutenberg are experiencing great
difficulties specifically with the European version of Project Gutenberg because copyright laws are not
harmonised in the EU?

4. What steps could the Commission take to support Project Gutenberg’s volunteers in their work,
which is of great importance to European culture?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(18 December 2003)

1.

The Commission is aware of the Gutenberg project.

The Commission favours initiatives that contribute to the preservation and dissemination of
in particular by re-using works that either have fallen into the public

2.
European history and culture,
domain or where dissemination has been authorised.

3.
The Union is made up of 15, and soon 25, countries with many different traditions in the cultural
field. These different traditions are also reflected in the national laws governing the protection of copyright
and related rights.

To tackle some of these differences, the Commission has carried out several exercises over the past ten
years to harmonise certain aspects of copyright in the internal market, and some of these efforts, like the
harmonisation of the terms of protection (Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonising
the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights (1)) have certainly made it easier for those
involved in the Gutenberg project.

In Article 1 of this Directive, the rights of an author of a literary or artistic work run for the life of the
author and for 70 years after his death, irrespective of the date when the work is lawfully made available
to the public.

In the case of a work of joint authorship, the term referred to in Article 1 is calculated from the death of
the last surviving author.

The only exceptions to this harmonisation that stand today concern Spain and France for a very limited set
of authors. This exception is allowed via Article 10 of the Directive, providing that Member States with
terms of protection longer than 70 years at the time of the adoption of Directive 93/98/EEC are entitled to
keep them.

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/269

The Commission supports initiatives in the cultural sector in the framework of the ‘Culture 2000’
4.
programme and in the context of the IST programme. The ‘Culture 2000’ programme has been set up to
support projects which are co-produced and co-financed by at least three operators who are nationals of at
least three countries which participate in the programme. Further information if required can be found on
the following web site: (http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/c2000).

The IST programme supports research in the area of Information Society Technologies and one specific
priority within this programme supports access to cultural heritage under the so-called DigiCult activity:
Digital Heritage and Cultural content. Additional information can be found on the following web site:
(http://www.cordis.lu/ist/directorate_e/digicult/index.htm).

(1) OJ L 290, 24.11.1993.

(2004/C 78 E/0269)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3351/03

by Christoph Konrad (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 November 2003)

Subject: Obstacles to the free movement of workers in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

1.
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg provides regular information, for example to German businesses,
on the conditions which must be complied with while posting workers in Luxembourg. These conditions
are set out in communications from the Luxembourg Labour Inspectorate, and include the appointment of
an authorised representative, notification by registered mail of all forthcoming work in Luxembourg and
the disclosure of detailed information on all posted workers.

Does the Commission view this complicated list of conditions as an obstacle to the free movement of
workers in the internal market? If so, what action has it taken against the Luxembourg Government? If
not, why not?

Do the conditions of the Luxembourg Law of 20 December 2002 comply with Directive 96/71/EC (1)
2.
of the European Parliament and the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in
the framework of the provision of services?

3.
Under current legislation, businesses which are based outside Luxembourg have to submit a great
deal of information on their workers to the Luxembourg Labour Inspectorate within a short space of time.
How does the Commission view the fact that these elaborate requirements place businesses from outside
Luxembourg at a disadvantage in terms of competition policy?

(1) OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(19 December 2003)

Community law does not stop a Member State imposing an obligation to provide certain information on
in particular their working and
the conditions for posted workers in the Member State of posting,
employment conditions as provided for in Directive 96/71/EC, as long as this information is justified from
a worker protection perspective or by other pressing reasons of general interest and to the extent that they
guarantee the implementation of the objective pursued and do not go beyond what is required to achieve
this objective. Certain measures of this kind may even prove necessary to comply with the obligations of
Article 5 of this Directive.