Activities of Axel VOSS related to 2023/2062(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Policy implications of the development of virtual worlds – civil, company, commercial and intellectual property law issues (A9-0442/2023 - Axel Voss, Ibán García Del Blanco) (vote)
Reports (1)
REPORT on policy implications of the development of virtual worlds – civil, company, commercial and intellectual property law issues
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (18)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 36 a (new)
Citation 36 a (new)
– having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled `A Digital Decade for children and youth: the new European strategy for a better internet for kids (BIK+)´ (COM (2022) 212)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas virtual worlds have not yet been widely taken up, although their deployment in a number of use cases in various sectors (e.g. healthcare, education and gaming) has raised general awareness and has attracted the attention of public authorities;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas digital sovereignty is a means of promoting the notion of European leadership and strategic autonomy, and it is key to guarantee the EU´s ability to shape and enforce legislation in the digital environment, ensuring ethical, sustainable and human- centric virtual worlds and preserving the safeguard of fundamental rights and the values of the European Union;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that virtual worlds accessible in the EU should be guided by ethical values, principles and fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union26 and existing EU legislation; , namely on data privacy, security and safety standards, data sharing, content moderation, cybersecurity, workers’ rights, consumers’ and child protection, accessibility requirements, respect for intellectual property rights, contestable and fair markets _________________ 26 OJ C 303, 14.12.2007, p. 1.
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Points that, in particular, the following pieces of legislation already apply to different aspects of virtual worlds, Digital Services Act (DSA); Digital Markets Act (DMA); Data Governance Act; Data Act; the proposed AI Act; General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); General Product Safety Regulation; Unfair Commercial Practices Directive; Markets in Crypto- Assets (MiCA) Regulation; European Digital Identity (eID); Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market; Regulation on the EU Trade Mark; Directive on the Protection of Trade Secrets; European Accessibility Act; Web Accessibility Directive;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Highlights the importance of monitoring compliance and ensuring effective enforcement of the applicable legal instruments in force; calls on the Commission to develop guidelines and best practices, in cooperation with the various stakeholders, clarifying their legal obligations and responsibilities in the metaverse; of the various stakeholders involved in the metaverse, such as platform operators, service providers, developers and users, in light of the applicable EU law;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Highlights that recent research has shown that VR sensor data is as uniquely identifiable as a fingerprint scan and can be used to infer a variety of attributes such as age, gender, income, ethnicity, and disability status; believes that this raises significant ethical concerns, notably in connection with targeted behavioural advertising, that should not be disregarded; stresses that part of addressing these ethical concerns around the collection of vast amounts of personal data, including biometric data, is to guarantee that consent for the collection of such data is not obtained only at the time of entry to the virtual world, but for each use case in line with the purpose limitation principle laid out by the GDPR;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Points out the concerns raised by the advertising techniques used when selling the so-called virtual real estate, , like a building or a piece of land in a virtual world, represented by an NFT, as users might be led to believe that they are actually acquiring property rights, when, in practice, they only obtain a licence to use the virtual ‘land’; emphasises the importance of ensuring that the applicable terms and conditions are transparent and fair;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls that liability rules should fully apply to virtual worlds and underlines the importance of putting in place effective measures to prevent and address any form of harmful behaviour in the metaverse, including, where appropriate and without prejudice to the right of seeking judicial redress, the establishment of reporting and dispute resolution mechanisms;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Is concerned that the use of avatars and decentralised systems, such as those built on blockchain technology, might make it extremely challenging to hold tortfeasors accountable; considers that the implementation of effective identity management systems is key in order to allow for their proper identification and to combat fake identities, also taking into account the specificities linked to the governance of decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) and to collective liability; welcomes in this regard the Commission’s intention to study the added value of a possible legal framework for DAO’s;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Underlines that the body of EU law on the protection of intellectual and industrial property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, designs and trade secrets fully applies to virtual worlds; stresses nevertheless that the development of virtual worlds poses new challenges in terms ofwhen it comes to intellectual property enforcement and identification of infringers, as well as the issues concerning the conflict-of-law rules on applicable law and jurisdiction;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Recalls that users in the metaverse are under the obligation to respect right holders’ exclusive prerogatives and their right to fair remuneration; highlights that the use of content protected by intellectual property rights (IPR), including in digital form in an electronic medium, such as an NFT, requires authorisation through licensing or assignment, unless it is covered by any exception or limitation to IPR protection (such as private copy, education, research, quotation, review, parody or pastiche); reiterates the importance in this regard of ensuring transparency as to the scope of licences so as to ensure that users are able to determine what uses of IPR-protected content in the metaverse are covered by the licences they hold and that creators and right holders are able to receive accurate and proper reporting on the actual use of protected works;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Welcomes the update brought about by the twelfth edition of the ‘Nice classification’, which allows for the registration of trademarks in classes covering their use in the metaverse; calls for a close follow up on the concrete application of such classification; is, however, concerned about the use of NFTs referencing trademarks without the authorisation of their owners and calls for effective measures to be implemented to detect and address these and other cases of infringement; welcomes in this regard the Commission proposal to develop a toolbox to fight counterfeiting;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Acknowledges the applicability of liability rules as laid down in the Digital Services Act and of the special regime established in Article 17 of the Copyright Directive to cover the uploading of user- generated content; believes, however, that further clarification is needed on how existing rules should apply to services available in the metaverse;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Notes that NFTs and other blockchain based offers facilitate continuous resale of assets based on copyright protected works through online transactions and believes that appropriate and proportionate remuneration of authors for each resale of such assets needs to be ensured;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Recalls that, under the current rules, the outputs autonomously generated by AI systems might not be eligible for copyright protection, as the principle of originality is linked to a natural person the concept of “intellectual creation” presupposes the author’s personality; recalls also the difference between AI- assisted human creations and AI-generated creations; recalloutputs autonomously generated by AI; reminds that, while the current intellectual property framework remains applicable to AI-assisted creations, AI-outputs autonomously generated creationsby AI create new regulatory challenges for intellectual property rights protection, such as questions of ownership, inventorship and appropriate remuneration, as well as issues related to potential market concentration; welcomes the commitment assumed in the IP action plan for the Commission to engage in stakeholder discussions on how to address the challenges raised by AI-assisted inventions and creations;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Emphasises that virtual worlds will provide opportunities for the provision of public services of general interest, to the wider benefit of citizens; underlines, however, that inclusion of and accessibility for all users in the EU must be ensured both in terms of cost and use of hardware and the understanding of software; notes that accessibility is particularly important when it comes to vulnerable population groups, such as the elderly, persons with disabilities and children, and should take into consideration aspects such as geographical location, gender, level of educational attainment and socio-economic background;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Highlights the need to put in place effective education measures to ensure a wide virtual world’s literacy among citizens and to upskill professionals in different fields, namely teachers, and to encourage and promote the development of European talent and technologies, while attracting more people, including more women, into STEM;