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Document 32012L0028
Wider access to copyright material — orphan works
Directive 2012/28/EU — certain permitted uses of orphan works
It is designed to promote the digitisation of and lawful intra-EU online access to orphan works* contained in the collections of libraries, educational establishments, museums, archives, audiovisual heritage institutions and public service broadcasting organisations.
These organisations have a public interest mission to:
After completing the diligent search* these organisations will be permitted to use orphan works for these purposes.
Scope
The directive applies to works protected by copyright that are first published or, in the absence of publication, broadcast (shown on television or online, i.e. visual media, rather than written media) in a EU country.
The directive applies to several categories of works:
Status of orphan work
Database
A single, Europe-wide, publicly accessible online database will be set up, containing information on orphan works, including:
This ensures that both the organisations carrying out the searches and the rightsholders can find information about identification and use of orphan works.
Permitted uses
Organisations covered by the directive may use an orphan work only to achieve aims related to their public-interest missions:
The organisations may generate revenues in the course of such uses, for the exclusive purpose of covering their costs of digitising orphan works and making them available to the public.
The directive has applied since 29 October 2014 and it had to become law in the EU countries on the same day.
Directive 2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works (OJ L 299, 27.10.2012, pp. 5-12)
Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the European Union trade mark (codification) (OJ L 154, 16.6.2017, pp. 1-99)
Regulation (EU) No 386/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 April 2012 on entrusting the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) with tasks related to the enforcement of intellectual property rights, including the assembling of public and private-sector representatives as a European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights (OJ L 129, 16.5.2012, pp. 1-6)
Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society (OJ L 167, 22.6.2001, pp. 10-19)
See consolidated version.
last update 14.06.2018