Working Groups 

Following the first Forum, the RightsWatch partners decided that the best way to make progress on these issues was by narrowing down the discussion before opening it up again in a final stage.  Consequently, three Working Groups, each comprising two representatives each from the rightsholder, ISP and consumer/user communities, were set up to cover respectively the UK & Ireland, Southern Europe and Northern Europe.  

Each of the Working Groups reached high levels of consensus on the form that a NTD process should take, although the results themselves were different:  

• The UK & Ireland Working Group chose not to specify timeframes in which the takedown had to take place, preferring instead to allow best practice and jurisprudence to establish a norm over time. 
• In contrast, the Southern Europe Working Group devised a procedure consisting of different “tracks” where the speed of the ISP response would depend on the seriousness of the infringement. 
• The Northern Europe Working Group’s procedure was the only one to include a requirement for a Central Body to administer claims. 

The most notable similarity between the groups was that all three regimes would benefit from some level of Government endorsement.  This would provide the necessary legal certainty for stakeholders in respect of their rights and liabilities under a self-regulatory scheme. 

Click below to download a copy of each Working Group Report

UK & Ireland Working Group Report

Northern Europe Working Group Report

Southern Europe Working Group Report 

Further analysis of the Working Group results can be found in the White Paper.

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