DSA: A missed opportunity and a step backwards

On 26 October, FIAD cosigned a letter addressing the possible detrimental effect of the Digital Service Act (DSA) on the protection of the online environment and copyright protected content online.

The letter was sent to the European Commission, DSA rapporteurs at the European Parliament and to some Member States officials. It stresses that adopting the DSA as it stands would weaken the current liability regime and have a detrimental impact on the existing standards and good practices for addressing illegal content and activities, including online infringements of copyright and related rights.

Among the three main issues brought to the attention of policy makers, the creative ecosystem pointed out that setting specific time limits for the removal of illegal content online (including copyright infringing content), would weaken the current obligation to act “expeditiously” to remove illegal content as provided in article 17 of the Copyright directive.