Today, the European Commission published its Communication providing Guidance on certain aspects of Directive 2004/48/EC on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRED).

Creativity Works! is calling for the full and correct implementation of the existing provisions of IPRED in Member States. We acknowledge the European Commission’s efforts in addressing this issue and identifying infringement of intellectual property rights as a growing problem.

Full and correct implementation of existing rules and addressing diverging interpretations of IPRED is necessary to ensure the right levels of protection. Without this, Europe will lose the opportunity to secure a level playing field by bringing national legislative systems closer together.

Intellectual property rights contribute significantly to Europe’s economy and employment. IPR-intensive industries play a vital role in the competitiveness of EU’s industry, economic growth and jobs – they account for 42% of EU GDP, 38% of all jobs and 90% of EU exports.

The creative and cultural sectors work hard to ensure that innovative and consumer-friendly platforms deliver creative works and content in diverse legal consumer propositions. Their efforts to build a legal market place for online distribution should be supported by the European Union and the Member States, which are directly responsible for ensuring respect for intellectual property rights.

For this reason, we urge the European Commission and Member States to continue to work towards making Europe’s IPR enforcement framework fit for the digital age by promoting a legal market place where the creative and cultural sectors and online market places can remain the key drivers of innovation and growth.