Copyright Directive

The Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonization of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society ( Copyright Directive - UrhRil, in Engl also: European Union Copyright Directive - Directive or EUCD, or Information Society InfoSoc Directive or Information Directive ) sets the WIPO copyright Treaty to the European level. It can be seen as a European equivalent to the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( DMCA).

EUCD and Open Source

The Copyright Directive also has an influence in the field of open source or free software. Through the protection of copyright on the one hand, the rights of use are now partially restricted, so that it may be a conflict that affects the publication, in particular of program libraries. For example, the use of DVD player software in some cases would be illegal.