From PPDE
please consider following motion for the agenda of the upcoming online
General Assembly on March 29th:

May the General Assembly of the Pirate Parties International decide the
following declaration:

Pirates want a fair and balanced copyright law based on the interests of
society as a whole.

We strive for the abolition of information monopolies. As for now the
only beneficiaries of the monopolies are huge corporations, while the
market as a whole is failing. This market failure is apparent by the
frequent bullying of individuals and SMEs by collecting societies and
the loss of orphan works to society. Our goal is to create an
environment where the motivation to create goes hand in hand with
freedom of information.

Improved public availability of information, knowledge and culture is a
prerequisite for the social, technological and economic development of
our society. Pirates therefore demand that copying, storing, using and
providing access to literary and artistic works for non-commercial
purposes must not only be legalised but protected by law and actively
promoted. Everyone shall be able to enjoy and share our cultural
heritage free from the threat of legal action or censorship.

The commercial monopoly given by copyright should be restored to a
reasonable term. Derivative works shall always be permitted, with
exceptions that are very specifically enumerated in law with minimal
room for interpretation.

The internet as a medium should know no borders. Pirates consider
artificial national barriers for cultural goods a hindrance to the
global trade and demand their abolishment. A change of approach is
required in the area of rights to intangible goods and their respective
enforcement practices.

Further monopolies in the sectors of information and culture have to be
prevented. By law, states should only allow or maintain monopoly rights
for intangible goods if these are in the public interest. Any monopoly
rights must be temporally limited, neither their time-span nor their
scope may be expanded retrospectively.

The creation of commons, such as free software, free cultural goods,
open patent pools and free and open educational material, must be
promoted and legally protected.

Social life, increasingly taking place in digital spaces, must not be
restricted by monopoly rights over intangible goods. The introduction of
“fair use” regulations will ensure that social interactions remain
unencumbered.

Each collecting society must ensure comprehensive transparency, fair
participatory rights for their members and fairer contract terms for
artists.