This event is organised by Edinburgh Law School
To say that the interface between journalism, artificial intelligence (AI) and copyright law is complex would barely scratch the surface of such intricate topic. In order to dive deeper, SCRIPT invites you to a thought-provoking panel discussion with Professor Axel Metzger and Professor Péter Mezei who will be providing their insights on the following issues from EU, German, and Hungarian perspectives:
Crisis of Journalism: Copyright as Part of the Solution
Professor Axel Metzger (Humboldt University of Berlin)
In times of social media and AI chatbots, it is becoming increasingly difficult for providers of journalistic content to finance their services. Search engines, news feeds and social media use short text snippets as link to the original sources but take a large share of advertising revenue before doing so. AI models are trained with journalistic content before the information is offered again in a newly compiled form. This erodes the economic basis of journalism at the expense of publishers and other content providers. The talk examines what solutions copyright law has to offer and how these compare to alternative regulatory approaches. The paper concludes by arguing for a strengthening of the neighboring right under Art. 15 DSM Directive by means of competition or regulatory law, as well as for a further development of exclusive rights in the age of AI. However, those rights should be exercised collectively to ensure that small and local media can participate.
Press Publishers and Artificial Intelligence – The Ups and Downs of European Copyright Law
Professor Péter Mezei (University of Szeged)
Digital technologies – particularly the Internet and, more recently, generative AI – have profoundly impacted the creative industries. Journalism, in particular, stands at the center of these disruptions, with traditional models of content production and consumption rapidly eroding. While AI presents potential advantages for media outlets, such as automated content creation and cost reduction, it simultaneously threatens the economic foundations of journalism. Both search engines and AI systems provide free access to journalistic content, diverting significant value away from press publishers and toward information society service providers.
In response, the European Union has introduced legal measures within its copyright framework to address many of these challenges. Key among them are the press publishers’ ancillary right and the text- and data-mining (TDM) exception, including its rights reservation mechanism. However, the effectiveness of these provisions in safeguarding the interests of press publishers remains uncertain. This presentation explores the substance and functioning of these legal tools and examines emerging case law within the EU and beyond to assess their practical impact.
Image credit: Andri Babarytskyi
This event is organised by Edinburgh Law School
Venue
Moot Court Room
Edinburgh Law School
Old College South Bridge
Edinburgh EH8 9YL
