Science Europe Responds to the European Commission Copyright Consultation

Science Europe has published a new Position Statement calling for greater harmonisation of EU copyright rules to facilitate scientific research, strengthen Open Science, and support cross-border collaboration.

Responding to the European Commission Copyright Consultation, the statement highlights the challenges created by fragmented national copyright frameworks and calls for greater legal clarity and consistency across EU Member States. It also emphasises the importance of effective copyright exceptions for text and data mining, including for AI-enabled research, and clearer rules governing the use of copyright-protected material in research.

At the centre of the Position Statement is a call for a harmonised EU Secondary Publication Right, to be included in the forthcoming European Research Area Act. This would enable researchers to make their scholarly outputs openly available immediately, without embargo periods, and provide greater legal certainty when sharing research across borders.

Science Europe calls for a mandatory, cross-border and non-waivable right covering all scholarly outputs, allowing researchers to share the final published version of their work and make it available under open licences of their choice.

By removing legal barriers to accessing and sharing scientific knowledge, these measures would advance Open Science, strengthen the European Research Area, and support the free movement of knowledge, research, and innovation.