Directive 98/84/EC| European Union directive |
| Title | Directive on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access |
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| Made by | European Parliament & Council |
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| Made under | Art. 57(2), 66 & 100a |
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| Journal reference | L320, 1998-11-28, pp. 54–57. |
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| History |
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| Date made | 1998-11-20 |
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| Came into force | 1998-11-28 |
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| Implementation date | 2000-05-28 |
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| Preparative texts |
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| Commission proposal | C14, 1997-10-16, p. 7
C203, 1998-06-30, p. 12 |
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| EESC opinion | C129, 1998-04-27, p. 16 |
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| EP opinion | C152, 1998-05-18, p. 59 |
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| Reports | |
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| Other legislation |
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| Replaces | — |
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| Amends | — |
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| Amended by | — |
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| Replaced by | — |
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| Current legislation |
Directive 98/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 1998 on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access is a European Union directive in the field of intellectual property law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. The Directive covers "conditional access services", which are defined as television or radio broadcasts or internet services to which "access [...] in an intelligible form is made conditional upon prior individual authorisation" and payment. Examples are pay-per-view and encrypted television and internet sites which charge for access.
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. Intellectual property encompasses two types of rights; industrial property rights and copyright. It was not until the 19th century that the term "intellectual property" began to be used, and not until the late 20th century that it became commonplace in the majority of the world.
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union.
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television service by which a subscriber of a television service provider can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it. Events can be purchased using an on-screen guide, an automated telephone system, or through a live customer service representative. Events often include feature films, sporting events, and other entertainment programs. With the rise of the Internet, the term Internet pay-per-view (iPPV) has been used to describe pay-per-view services accessed online. PPV is most commonly used to distribute combat sports events, such as boxing and mixed martial arts, and sports entertainment such as professional wrestling.
Member States may not restrict the provision of conditional access services which originate in another Member State [Art. 3(2)]. Devices intended to circumvent the access restrictions are prohibited (Art. 4).
The convention formed the basis for the Conditional Access Convention, a convention of the Council of Europe, to which the European Union is a party.
The Conditional Access Convention, formally the European Convention on the Legal Protection of Services based on, or consisting of, Conditional Access is a convention of the Council of Europe, which requires its parties to make pieces of software that circumvent paywalls for television and radio programmes as well as "information society services". The convention is based on the Conditional Access Directive which already required European Union Member states to enact similar legislation.
The Council of Europe is an international organisation whose stated aim is to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 47 member states, covers approximately 820 million people and operates with an annual budget of approximately 500 million euros.
The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty is an international treaty on copyright law adopted by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996. It provides additional protections for copyright to respond to advances in information technology since the formation of previous copyright treaties before it. The WCT and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, are together termed WIPO "internet treaties".
Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonising the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights is a European Union directive in the field of copyright law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It was replaced by Directive 2006/116/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights.
European Union law is the system of laws operating within the member states of the European Union. The EU has political institutions and social and economic policies. According to its Court of Justice, the EU represents "a new legal order of international law". The EU's legal foundations are the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, unanimously agreed by the governments of 28 member states. New states may join the EU, if they agree to operate by the rules of the organisation, and existing members may leave according to their "own constitutional requirements". Citizens are able to vote directly in elections to the Parliament, while their national governments operate on behalf of them in the Council of the European Union and the European Council. The Commission is the executive branch. The Council of the European Union represents member state governments, while the Court of Justice is meant to uphold the rule of law and human rights. As the Court of Justice said, the EU is "not merely an economic union" but is intended to "ensure social progress and seek the constant improvement of the living and working conditions of their peoples".
Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights is a European Union directive in the field of intellectual property law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. The directive covers civil remedies only—not criminal ones.
Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions
is a European Union directive in the field of patent law, made under the internal market
provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It was intended to harmonise the laws of Member States regarding the patentability
of biotechnological inventions, including plant varieties and human genes.
The draft European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA), or formally the Draft Agreement on the establishment of a European patent litigation system, was a proposed patent law agreement aimed at creating an "optional protocol to the European Patent Convention (EPC) which would commit its signatory states to an integrated judicial system, including uniform rules of procedure and a common appeal court". It differed from the Unified Patent Court Agreement in that the EPLA negotiations were coordinated from the side of the European Patent Office, rather than from the European Council and Commission and therefore also offered the possibility for non-EU states to participate.
The Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases
is a directive of the European Union in the field of copyright law, made under the internal market
provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It harmonises the treatment of databases under copyright law and the
sui generis right for the creators of databases which do not qualify for copyright.
European Union patent law is a subset of European patent law. It also serves as the superset of the patent laws of the individual member states of the European Union (EU). The most recent (proposed) addition to the range of measures currently in place is the Directive on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights. The most recent directive relating specifically to patents is Directive on the patentability of biotechnological inventions. Patents are probably the least harmonised area of intellectual property laws of the European Union insofar as harmonisation through EU Directives and Regulations is concerned. However, patentability criteria have been substantially harmonized by the European Patent Convention.
In copyright law, related rights are the rights of a creative work not connected with the work's actual author. It is used in opposition to the term "authors' rights". Neighbouring rights is a more literal translation of the original French droits voisins. Both authors' rights and related rights are copyrights in the sense of English or U.S. law.
The European Union Computer Programs Directive controls the legal protection of computer programs under copyright law within the EU. It was issued under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. The most recent version is Directive 2009/24/EC.
Directive 2001/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art is a European Union directive in the field of copyright law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It creates a right under European Union law for artists to receive royalties on their works when they are resold. This right, often known by its French name droit de suite, appears in the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and already existed in many, but not all, Member States. As a result, there was a tendency for sellers of works of art to sell them in countries without droit de suite provisions to avoid paying the royalty. This was deemed to be a distortion of the internal market, leading to the Directive.
Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 on the legal protection of designs
is a European Union directive in the field of industrial design rights, made under the internal market
provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It sets harmonised standards for eligibility and protection of most types of
registered design.
Industrial design rights in the European Union are provided at both the Union level by virtue of the Community design and at the national level under individual national laws.
Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community designs is a European Union regulation
which introduces a unified system of industrial design rights, called Community designs, throughout the
European Union. The system which includes both unregistered and registered design rights,
operates in addition to national systems of protection in each Member State, which are partially harmonised by the
Directive on the legal protection of designs (98/71/EC).
The Commissioner for Internal Market and Services is a member of the European Commission. The post is currently held by Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska.
Internal Market in Electricity Directive is the Directive 2003/54/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 26 June 2003 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 96/92/EC is based in the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 47(2), Article 55 and Article 95 thereof. Note: The Directive 2003/54/EC has been replaced by the Directive 2009/72/EC.
The Electronic Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC is a European Union Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council from 8 June 2000. It regulates certain legal aspects of information society services in the Internal Market, in particular electronic commerce and mere conduit.
The Payment Services Directive is an EU Directive, administered by the European Commission to regulate payment services and payment service providers throughout the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). The Directive's purpose was to increase pan-European competition and participation in the payments industry also from non-banks, and to provide for a level playing field by harmonizing consumer protection and the rights and obligations for payment providers and users.
The Telecoms Package was the review of the European Union Telecommunications Framework from 2007 – 2009. The objective of the review was to update the EU Telecoms Framework of 2002 and to create a common set of regulations for the telecoms industry across all 27 EU member states. The review consisted of a package of directives addressing the regulation of service provision, access, interconnection, users' contractual rights and users' privacy, as well as a Regulation creating a new European regulatory body (BEREC).
