The ordinance of July 16, issued by the Brussels company court, marks by its magnitude, since it relates to five platforms allowing unauthorized access to digital works protected by copyright. Library Genesis, Z-Library, Oceanofpdf, Open Library and Anna’s Archive are thus affected by the court decision.
At the origin of the procedure, as described Actualitted in the aftermath of the publication of the ordinance, seven organizations, namely the ADEB (Association of Belgian publishers), the SCAM (Civil Society of Multimedia Authors), Copiebel (Management of Collective Management of the Rights of Francophone Publishers), Librius (its Flemish equivalent), Gewu (Flamand organization (Groep Algemene Uitgevers – Association of general publishers in Flanders) and VAV (Vlaamse Authorsvereniging – Association of Flemish authors).
The Belgian initiative follows, explains Carine Lecomte, Director General of ADEB and Copiebel, from a legal action … French. On August 25, 2022, the Paris judicial court ordered the blocking of the Z-Library site in France by internet access providers (ISP), “Which had allowed us to see the presence of works by Belgian authors and publishers». A formal notice had then been sent to the Pirate platform to obtain a withdrawal from the works, without success.
The agreement of the seven rights of beneficiaries will have been decisive for this new stage in the fight against hacking: “This mobilization is unprecedented by its magnitude, it is the first time that such a coalition has emerged between several associations representing publishers and authors in the north and southern“Hads Carine Lecomte.
Demonstrate the damage
The coalition asked the Brussels company court to take substantial measures against the platforms referred to, acting on several tables. Among these, Internet access providers (ISP), which must now block access to 48 detailed websites in the court order.
The blocking comes into force this August 6, with an immediate and unique penalty of € 500,000 from the sixth working day depending on this date. Google and Microsoft search engines are also concerned, as are payment providers. In the event of an offense, an additional penalty, up to € 25,000, can apply …
Despite these very heavy measures, Belgian justice has not precisely evaluated the damage of the beneficiaries. “”We don’t have this figure“, In fact admits Carine Lecomte,”But the total inventory was not necessary, it was simply necessary to demonstrate that the damage was substantial». To do this, publishers and authors members of organizations were invited to send proofs of copyright offenses on a sample of their titles.
Among the works concerned, tells us the director of ADEB and Copiebel, all types of books and subjects, but an over -representation on the side of the 9th art, “both manga and classic comics“, And scientific publications or intended for higher education.
As such, the Belgian prescription was noticed internationally, since it blocks access to Library Genesis, Anna’s Archive and Open Library [gérée par le site Internet Archive, NdR]which all claim a dissemination of content under the rights to educational or research purposes.
Internet archive, with its open library, even hears “reproduceOn the web the functioning of a current public library, by offering scanned files, from collections of public establishments, for limited durations. In addition, the Internet Archive also offers files from the public domain, free of law.
To read – “Final victory”Publishers in the Internet Archive trial
For Carine Lecomte, “It does not matter whether these sites offer certain content free or not. From the moment when works protected by copyright are disseminated without authorization, they are in violation: that these sites limit their offer to works in the public domain, and there will be no legal action. The protection of intellectual property must take precedence above all. »
Fight against mirror sites
To enforce the measures of the ordinance, the coalition of rights holders can count on the anti-pirate service of the SPF Economy [équivalent du ministère de l’Économie, NdR]set up approximately a year ago and appointed by the court as responsible for the implementation of the provisions.
« This should make it possible to follow the sites in question more systematically, and to ensure that the ISP apply the judicial decision“, Specifies Carine Lecomte. “”It also has a watch service within it to identify the mirror sites, so that access is blocked permanentlyShe adds. Indeed, the multiplication of mirror sites, which identically reproduce the content of a site hosted at another address, sometimes makes a decision to block a web address.
To read – Piracy of manga: The publishing union obtains the blocking of japscan
The beneficiaries are hopeful that this system will offer new guarantees to restrict access to works illegally distributed online. “”We do not yet have the necessary perspective to judge its concrete efficiency, but the fact that it emanates from a public service, it has a priori from another striking force than an action carried out by private actors, and should be more effective. »
Photography: representation of justice in Bruges, Belgium (illustration, Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, CC by 2.0)
By Antoine Oury
Contact : ao@actualitte.com