13 November 2025
Thou Shalt Not E-lend
The CJEU in the VOB case has offered ample support for the need to include e-lending in the scope of the RLD. This interpretation not only recognises the public interest of society at large in accessing knowledge necessary for cultural, technological and economic development, but also supports authors who, thanks to the derogation of Art. 6 RLD, are entitled to specific remuneration. However, the Court missed the techno-regulatory turn in this story. Continue reading >>
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17 October 2025
EU law blogs, platforms and online journals
A conversation with the editors of European Papers (Ramses Wessel), [...] Continue reading >>
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13 October 2025
Setting the Scene
Academic freedom and freedom of scientific research are enshrined in Article 13 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. For the longest time, however, this Charter article received practically no or very little attention in both scholarship and EU institutional and jurisprudential practice. The developments are many and rapid, and need to be assessed against the Art. 13 CFR-standard whose content is work-in-progress in judicial and policy practice as well as academic work. This symposium seeks to shed light on all of this and stimulate much needed further reflection. Continue reading >>
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22 December 2021
Open Access in Academic Publishing on Law and Jurisprudence
Open Access aims to ensure that scientific findings are disseminated as widely as possible and thus reach (and can be further exploited) where they are of greatest use. Open Access assumes that the unrestricted access to research findings will enable further research and boost scientific progress. This is not restricted to STEM-subjects where speed is often essential to find solutions for looming problems but also applies to studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences including Law and Jurisprudence. Continue reading >>
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21 December 2021
Open Access, Market Power, and Rents
The notion that scientific progress depends on access to the existing stock of knowledge is an old one. It dates to the 12th century when the French philosopher Bernard of Chartres observed: “We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.” Continue reading >>
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21 December 2021
Unknown Shibboleth: On the Opacity of Gatekeeping
Without specifying its meaning or context, openness remains an empty category. It commonly evokes a positive sentiment, but what does it mean to say: We are opening up this or that? And what does it disguise? It even compares with excellence in this respect: a word that is en vogue to be thrown into debates about the future of the academy. Continue reading >>
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21 December 2021
Open / Closed
Open Access suggests the absence of gates and gatekeepers – but this is evidently not the case. Who gets to publish what and where is still very much a decision made by certain people in certain positions following certain procedures. Although Open Access carries the promise of removing barriers and democratising access, numerous barriers beyond the obvious ones like paywalls or processing charges exist or are being installed. Continue reading >>
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