You can now access books, journals, films, maps etc from across Europe via the EU's online library, Europeana.

You can now access books, journals, films, maps etc from across Europe via the EU's online library, Europeana. It's a great idea but it's not all plain sailing: web copyright rules are not the same in all EU countries, there are issues about paying for items that are still under copyright and should there be a minimum standard for content? The Culture Committee is likely to adopt a draft report on the issue Monday afternoon (22 February).
The report drafted by German Green MEP Helga Trüpel asks for more and better content on Europeana while respecting intellectual property rights. It also wants better promotion of the library among the broadest possible public and “urges the Commission and member states to take all necessary steps to avoid a knowledge gap between Europe and the United States of America and to ensure full access for Europeans to their own cultural heritage”.

You can watch deliberations in the Culture Committee live online from 1500 CET Monday afternoon.

The Parliament's legal Committee has also called on the Commission to submit a legislative proposal on the digitisation of “orphan works” (whose ownership is unclear), which would put an end to the current legal uncertainty for the remuneration of rights holders.

German Green Helga Trüpel will draft parliament's report. “We have to find means to encourage member states to provide more funding for digitisation...My big political goal is to achieve the balance between making books available and rewarding the authors. Google scanned a lot of books under copyright and then the authors complained and went to court,” she told us. 

“Europeana might never be as rich as Google Books, because it will not be financed through advertisements,” she said. “But it is very important for us to show that there is another possibility: to do it with public funding. If we want to defend our European social model and go for cultural diversity, we need Europeana.”

What is Europeana?

It was launched on 20 November, 2008. Europeana is a multi-lingual online collection of millions of digitised books, journals, films, maps, photographs and music from European museums, libraries, archives and multi-media collections. It is accessible to every citizen with an internet connection. It also preserves the items for future generations.

Europeana's collection has doubled since its launch and there are now more than 4.6 million items. The aim is to have 10 million digitised objects by 2010 and the Commission has launched a public consultation about the future challenges, which ends 15 November, to get the views of libraries, rights holders, IT companies and consumer organisation, as well as the European Parliament.