Intellectual Property/International Law: European Parliament Calls on EC to Propose EU-Wide IPR Strategy

On September 22, the European Parliament, by a vote of 328 to 245, approved a report on intellectual property rights (IPR), calling on the European Commission (EC) "to propose a comprehensive strategy on IPR which will remove obstacles to creating a single market in the online environment and adapt the European legislative framework in the field of IPR to current trends in society as well as technical developments." Members of the European Parliament (MEP) characterized the ""enormous growth of unauthorised file sharing of copyrighted works [as] an increasing problem for the European economy in terms of job opportunities and revenues for the industry as well as for government." They also asked the EC "to think broadly about methods of facilitating industry's access to the digital market without geographical borders by addressing urgently the issue of multi-territory licences and the harmonisation of legislation on copyright," adding that a pan-European licensing system should provide consumers with "access to the widest possible choice of content and not at the expense of European local repertoire."