Note: the use of italic in this extract highlights some parts of the directive that seem interesting during the discussion.
Article 3 Text and data mining for the purposes of scientific research
Article 4 Exception or limitation for text and data mining
art. 3-4 Recitals
(8) New technologies enable the automated computational analysis of information in digital form, such as text, sounds, images or data, generally known as text and data mining. Text and data mining makes the processing of large amounts of information with a view to gaining new knowledge and discovering new trends possible. Text and data mining technologies are prevalent across the digital economy; however, there is widespread acknowledgment that text and data mining can, in particular, benefit the research community and, in so doing, support innovation. Such technologies benefit universities and other research organisations, as well as cultural heritage institutions since they could also carry out research in the context of their main activities. However, in the Union, such organisations and institutions are confronted with legal uncertainty as to the extent to which they can perform text and data mining of content. In certain instances, text and data mining can involve acts protected by copyright, by the sui generis database right or by both, in particular, the reproduction of works or other subject matter, the extraction of contents from a database or both which occur for example when the data are normalised in the process of text and data mining. Where no exception or limitation applies, an authorisation to undertake such acts is required from rightsholders.
(9) Text and data mining can also be carried out in relation to mere facts or data that are not protected by copyright, and in such instances no authorisation is required under copyright law. There can also be instances of text and data mining that do not involve acts of reproduction or where the reproductions made fall under the mandatory exception for temporary acts of reproduction provided for in Article 5(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC, which should continue to apply to text and data mining techniques that do not involve the making of copies beyond the scope of that exception. (10) Union law provides for certain exceptions and limitations covering uses for scientific research purposes which may apply to acts of text and data mining. However, those exceptions and limitations are optional and not fully adapted to the use of technologies in scientific research. Moreover, where researchers have lawful access to content, for example through subscriptions to publications or open access licences, the terms of the licences could exclude text and data mining. As research is increasingly carried out with the assistance of digital technology, there is a risk that the Union’s competitive position as a research area will suffer, unless steps are taken to address the legal uncertainty concerning text and data mining.
(11) The legal uncertainty concerning text and data mining should be addressed by providing for a mandatory exception for universities and other research organisations, as well as for cultural heritage institutions, to the exclusive right of reproduction and to the right to prevent extraction from a database. In line with the existing Union research policy, which encourages universities and research institutes to collaborate with the private sector, research organisations should also benefit from such an exception when their research activities are carried out in the framework of public-private partnerships. While research organisations and cultural heritage institutions should continue to be the beneficiaries of that exception, they should also be able to rely on their private partners for carrying out text and data mining, including by using their technological tools.
(12) Research organisations across the Union encompass a wide variety of entities the primary goal of which is to conduct scientific research or to do so together with the provision of educational services. The term ‘scientific research’ within the meaning of this Directive should be understood to cover both the natural sciences and the human sciences. Due to the diversity of such entities, it is important to have a common understanding of research organisations. They should for example cover, in addition to universities or other higher education institutions and their libraries, also entities such as research institutes and hospitals that carry out research. Despite different legal forms and structures, research organisations in the Member States generally have in common that they act either on a not-for-profit basis or in the context of a public-interest mission recognised by the State. Such a public-interest mission could, for example, be reflected through public funding or through provisions in national laws or public contracts. Conversely, organisations upon which commercial undertakings have a decisive influence allowing such undertakings to exercise control because of structural situations, such as through their quality of shareholder or member, which could result in preferential access to the results of the research, should not be considered research organisations for the purposes of this Directive.
(13) Cultural heritage institutions should be understood as covering publicly accessible libraries and museums regardless of the type of works or other subject matter that they hold in their permanent collections, as well as archives, film or audio heritage institutions. They should also be understood to include, inter alia, national libraries and national archives, and, as far as their archives and publicly accessible libraries are concerned, educational establishments, research organisations and public sector broadcasting organisations.
(14) Research organisations and cultural heritage institutions, including the persons attached thereto, should be covered by the text and data mining exception with regard to content to which they have lawful access. Lawful access should be understood as covering access to content based on an open access policy or through contractual arrangements between rightsholders and research organisations or cultural heritage institutions, such as subscriptions, or through other lawful means. For instance, in the case of subscriptions taken by research organisations or cultural heritage institutions, the persons attached thereto and covered by those subscriptions should be deemed to have lawful access. Lawful access should also cover access to content that is freely available online.
(15) Research organisations and cultural heritage institutions could in certain cases, for example for subsequent verification of scientific research results, need to retain copies made under the exception for the purposes of carrying out text and data mining. In such cases, the copies should be stored in a secure environment. Member States should be free to decide, at national level and after discussions with relevant stakeholders, on further specific arrangements for retaining the copies, including the ability to appoint trusted bodies for the purpose of storing such copies. In order not to unduly restrict the application of the exception, such arrangements should be proportionate and limited to what is needed for retaining the copies in a safe manner and preventing unauthorised use. Uses for the purpose of scientific research, other than text and data mining, such as scientific peer review and joint research, should remain covered, where applicable, by the exception or limitation provided for in Article 5(3)(a) of Directive 2001/29/EC. (16) In view of a potentially high number of access requests to, and downloads of, their works or other subject matter, rightsholders should be allowed to apply measures when there is a risk that the security and integrity of their systems or databases could be jeopardised. Such measures could, for example, be used to ensure that only persons having lawful access to their data can access them, including through IP address validation or user authentication. Those measures should remain proportionate to the risks involved, and should not exceed what is necessary to pursue the objective of ensuring the security and integrity of the system and should not undermine the effective application of the exception.
(17) In view of the nature and scope of the exception, which is limited to entities carrying out scientific research, any potential harm created to rightsholders through this exception would be minimal. Member States should, therefore, not provide for compensation for rightsholders as regards uses under the text and data mining exceptions introduced by this Directive.
(18) In addition to their significance in the context of scientific research, text and data mining techniques are widely used both by private and public entities to analyse large amounts of data in different areas of life and for various purposes, including for government services, complex business decisions and the development of new applications or technologies. rightsholders should remain able to license the uses of their works or other subject matter falling outside the scope of the mandatory exception provided for in this Directive for text and data mining for the purposes of scientific research and of the existing exceptions and limitations provided for in Directive 2001/29/EC. At the same time, consideration should be given to the fact that users of text and data mining could be faced with legal uncertainty as to whether reproductions and extractions made for the purposes of text and data mining can be carried out on lawfully accessed works or other subject matter, in particular when the reproductions or extractions made for the purposes of the technical process do not fulfil all the conditions of the existing exception for temporary acts of reproduction provided for in Article 5(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC. In order to provide for more legal certainty in such cases and to encourage innovation also in the private sector, this Directive should provide, under certain conditions, for an exception or limitation for reproductions and extractions of works or other subject matter, for the purposes of text and data mining, and allow the copies made to be retained for as long as is necessary for those text and data mining purposes. This exception or limitation should only apply where the work or other subject matter is accessed lawfully by the beneficiary, including when it has been made available to the public online, and insofar as the rightsholders have not reserved in an appropriate manner the rights to make reproductions and extractions for text and data mining. In the case of content that has been made publicly available online, it should only be considered appropriate to reserve those rights by the use of machine-readable means, including metadata and terms and conditions of a website or a service. Other uses should not be affected by the reservation of rights for the purposes of text and data mining. In other cases, it can be appropriate to reserve the rights by other means, such as contractual agreements or a unilateral declaration. rightsholders should be able to apply measures to ensure that their reservations in this regard are respected. This exception or limitation should leave intact the mandatory exception for text and data mining for scientific research purposes provided for in this Directive, as well as the existing exception for temporary acts of reproduction provided for in Article 5(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC.
From the July 2024 version.
105 General-purpose AI models, in particular large generative AI models, capable of generating text, images, and other content, present unique innovation opportunities but also challenges to artists, authors, and other creators and the way their creative content is created, distributed, used and consumed. The development and training of such models require access to vast amounts of text, images, videos, and other data. Text and data mining techniques may be used extensively in this context for the retrieval and analysis of such content, which may be protected by copyright and related rights. Any use of copyright protected content requires the authorisation of the rightsholder concerned unless relevant copyright exceptions and limitations apply. Directive (EU) 2019/790 introduced exceptions and limitations allowing reproductions and extractions of works or other subject matter, for the purpose of text and data mining, under certain conditions. Under these rules, rightsholders may choose to reserve their rights over their works or other subject matter to prevent text and data mining, unless this is done for the purposes of scientific research. Where the rights to opt out has been expressly reserved in an appropriate manner, providers of general-purpose AI models need to obtain an authorisation from rightsholders if they want to carry out text and data mining over such works.
106 Providers that place general-purpose AI models on the Union market should ensure compliance with the relevant obligations in this Regulation. To that end, providers of general-purpose AI models should put in place a policy to comply with Union law on copyright and related rights, in particular to identify and comply with the reservation of rights expressed by rightsholders pursuant to Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2019/790. Any provider placing a general-purpose AI model on the Union market should comply with this obligation, regardless of the jurisdiction in which the copyright-relevant acts underpinning the training of those general-purpose AI models take place. This is necessary to ensure a level playing field among providers of general-purpose AI models where no provider should be able to gain a competitive advantage in the Union market by applying lower copyright standards than those provided in the Union.