Regulation of technological protection measures
Technological protection measures are digital locks that prevent certain uses of works that rights holders have not authorized. Their legal status protects them against circumvention.
In order to strike a balance between the protection of works and freedom of use, and in accordance with European Directive 2001/29/EC, Arcom may be called upon to give its opinion or to make a dispute settlement request.
Article L. 331-12, 3° of the French intellectual property code entrusts the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication (Arcom) with a mission of "regulation and monitoring in the field of technological protection measures (TPM) and the identification of works and objects protected by copyright or by neighbor rights".
Article L. 331-28 specifies the scope of this mission: to ensure that TPMs do not prevent the effective implementation of interoperability and do not hinder the benefit of certain exceptions. The regulation tools available to Arcom are described in articles L. 331-29 et seq. of the French intellectual property code. Articles R. 331-24 to R. 331-42 and R. 331-44 to R. 331-53 set out the conditions governing the admissibility and examination of dispute settlement requests and submissions of a case before the court.
Ensuring that legal exceptions apply
Exceptions to copyright are defined as cases in which the author, for reasons notably based on respect for certain fundamental freedoms and the general interest, cannot prohibit the diffusion or use of his work once it has been disclosed, sometimes in return for financial compensation. The exceptions are listed exhaustively and are subject to strict interpretation: the library, archive and museum exception (article L. 122-5, 8° of the French intellectual property code) allows the reproduction and representation of a work and/or an object protected by a neighboring right for the purpose of its conservation or to preserve its browsing on site. The exception is conditional on the absence of any economic advantage, and on browsing for research and study purposes being carried out on site and on dedicated terminals;
- the legal deposit exception (articles L. 132-4, L. 132-5 and L. 132-6 of the French Heritage Code);
- the educational exception (article L. 122-5, 3°, e) of the French intellectual property code);
- the exception for proceedings and public safety (article L. 331-4 of the French intellectual property code);
Disability exception and Ebooks
By virtue of the handicap exception (article L. 122-5, 7° French intellectual property code), the author cannot oppose :
- the reproduction and representation of works by artificial persons and establishments open to the public (libraries, etc.) authorized by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Solidarity, Autonomy and Disabled Persons, with a view to strictly personal browsing of the work by people suffering from "one or more impairments of motor, physical, sensory, mental, cognitive or psychic functions", provided that such reproductions and representations are made for non-profit purposes and to the extent required by the disability;
- it being specified that artificial persons and approved establishments may demand from publishers that the digital files used to publish the works be deposited, within forty-five days, in an open standard with the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), which stores them in a database summoned PLATON ;
Within this framework, article L. 331-31 of the French intellectual property code entrusts Arcom, on the one hand, with the task of settling "any dispute concerning the transmission of printed texts in the form of a digital file" and, on the other, with the possibility of putting publishers on formal notice if they fail to meet their obligations to deposit digital files on PLATON. In application of this article, Arcom may collect from BnF, publishers and authorized organizations any documents and information it deems useful, enabling it to take stock of the provision of digital files adapted to people with disabilities.
Guaranteeing interoperability
Arcom is also in charge of interoperability issues. This notion must be performed as the ability of two schemes to communicate with each other and, from the user's point of view, as the effective possibility of browsing legally acquired content from the medium of one's choice.