Legal Certainty At Last? When the European Parliament vote on the copyright directive was over, EDiMA members knew that a big step had just been taken towards ensuring legal certainty for digital distributors doing business in the European Union - finally. "Although the directive tips the balance in favour of the right holders, in cases such as the private copying exception, EDiMA welcomes this directive which has finally built the foundations of a legal framework that will allow us to develop and strengthen our Internet music business and services in the interest of European consumers", said Njara Zafimehy of Fnac.Direct and President of EDiMA. "It was always a question of balance between the interests of rightholders on one side and users on the other" said EDiMA Director Lucy C. Cronin "for the most part, the European Parliament managed to maintain that balance". A matter of particular relief to EDiMA members and indeed to the entire digital distribution sector in the EU was the fact that the exemption for temporary acts of reproduction was not further tightened, as requested by the rightholders, leaving temporary fleeting copies made during streaming/webcasting within the scope of the exemption. Any changes to this exemption would have seriously threatened the very businesses on which the fledgling EU digital space is built. "Although collective rights management is another matter entirely, it is encouraging to see that the Parliament has adopted a copyright directive which actually calls for a higher level of transparency within collecting societies", said Mrs. Cronin. "As we have our own questions with regard to transparency of collecting societies, we do welcome that call". "EDiMA will double its efforts at the national level to make sure that the ratification and application of the directive in the member states will result in a harmonised legal framework across Europe", says Mr Zafimehy back