RightsWatch

RightsWatch is the name of a research project aimed at developing consensus and promoting awareness of self-regulatory notice and takedown (NTD) procedures for Europe, as a tool to achieve prompt removal of copyright-infringing material from the Internet.   

The impetus behind the project specification was provided within the text of the EU’s E-Commerce Directive which encourages a self-regulatory approach through voluntary agreements for ‘development of rapid and reliable procedures for removing and disabling access to illegal information.’  

Activities and research taking place throughout the two year duration of the project (2000 – 2002) have been funded under the European Commission's Information Society Technology ("IST") programme. 

The RightsWatch team have drafted a White Paper which summarises the work of the RightsWatch project and its key results in a way that we hope is easily accessible.  As such, it is hoped that this document will provide useful guidelines to stakeholders engaged in discussions on notice and takedown by highlighting the contentious issues and areas that need to be addressed in order to move forward.

The RightsWatch partners would welcome your views on the project's findings.  Comments can be submitted via the discussion forum.

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