"A deliberate lack of imagination"

Thursday, Jun 11, 2020

The Kluwer Copyright Blog is running a series of posts by Remy Chavannes on the proposed Dutch DSM directive implementation law. Based on the first two posts (the third is coming tomorrow) it is a pretty good summary of the more controversial elements of the law that accurately identifies the weaknesses of the proposal.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in understanding the legislative wiggle room and the resulting tradeoffs in implementing the DSM directive. Here is the high level summary:

Both the timing and the content of the legislative proposal show an acute desire to avoid the risk of late or incorrect transposition. In the operative provisions and explanatory memorandum, the government has sought neither to mitigate the directive’s limitations nor to offer original interpretations of its impossible compromises. This deliberate lack of imagination is arguably a quality and, while not without its own risks and drawbacks, is based on a pragmatic assessment of national legislators’ room for transpositional manoeuvre.