Creative Commons

This dissertation was written as part of the MA in Art Law and Economy at the International Hellenic University. From the first written copyright act, widely known as the “British Statute of Anne” (1710), the encouragement of learning and dissemination of knowledge have been the essential means to enhance the mankind’s welfare. Until today, still the main scope of any copyright regime is to provide the necessary initiatives in order to promote creativity and innovation and at the same time to protect fundamental freedoms, such as the freedom of expression. The main challenge that international copyright system has to face is to find the fine balance between the conflicting interests of all the parties involved. This may accomplished only by the adoption of certain exclusive rights and exceptions or limitations to them, which undoubtedly constitute an integral part of any efficiently functioning copyright system. All of the international copyright agreements, including for example the Berne Convention, permit countries to introduce into their national legal system certain exceptions and limitations to copyright rights and most countries have accepted this possibility, although in fact they are aiming at different purposes. In general, due to the fact that exceptions are deemed as significant as copyright and related rights, sometimes it is said that exceptions are those which actually create "user rights". In the light of the above, the present dissertation is intended as a very brief overview of the legal framework in international, European and Greek context regarding copyright exceptions and limitations and more specific those that relate to research and education. The underlying philosophy of the existence of copyright exceptions in general will be presented and how they are linked to the fundamental right of freedom of expression. Furthermore, there will be a review of the two systems of exceptions and limitations to copyright, as well as the meaning and impact of the three-step test of the Berne Convention and other relative legal texts. More specific, the exceptions and limitations in the field of research and education are analyzed under the Berne Convention, the Rome Convention, the TRIPS Agreement, the WCT, the WPPT, the InfoSoc Directive and the Greek Copyright Act. Additionally in a distinct section, the present dissertation shall examine what Text and Data Mining (TDM) is and how it is linked with the exception of scientific research under the InfoSoc and Database Directive. Finally, a short presentation is attempted of the degree of harmonization between the Member States as well as of the very recent effort of the European Commission to promote the modernization of three different fields of copyright law in order to make the EU copyright rules more compatible with the real needs of the Digital Single Market (DSM).