That European Copyright Code: spreading the word

The Centre for Intellectual Property Rights at the University of Leuven is holding a symposium on the European Copyright Code: the Wittem Project (which the 1709 Blog mentioned here, last year). This takes place on the afternoon of Friday, 16 September, and it's followed by a reception. What's this symposium all about? Let the organisers explain:

"Efforts of harmonization in the field of copyright law have only brought partial results for certain aspects of the law of copyright in the Member States of the European Union. 

Therefore, at a meeting at the chateau of Wittem in 2002, scholars across the European Union, invited on the initiative of three Dutch universities (Radboud University of Nijmegen, University of Amsterdam and Leiden University) started a network project with the aim of drafting model
provisions for a more comprehensive European Copyright Code. 

The aim of this “Wittem Project” and the resulting Code, published in April 2010, http://www.copyrightcode.eu, is to promote transparency and consistency in European copyright law. The members of the Wittem Group share a concern that the process of copyright law making at the European level lacks transparency and that the voice of academia all too often remains unheard. The Group believes that a European Copyright Code drafted by legal scholars might serve as a model or reference tool for future harmonization or unification of copyright at the European level. 

The members of the Wittem Group hope that this European Copyright Code will contribute to the establishment of a body of transparent and consistent copyright law that protects the moral and economic interests of creators, while serving the public interest by promoting the production
and dissemination of works in the field of literature, art and science. 

It will now be necessary to disseminate these proposals in all countries of the European Union and to discuss them as widely as possible. CIR, acting within the collaboration framework between the Universities of Leuven and Nijmegen wants to contribute to the achievement of this goal by organising a study session on the Wittem proposals for the Benelux".

Full details of the programme and to register for it can be found here.  There's a strong cast of distinguished academic speakers and you can be sure that the fare will be stimulating and at times provocative!