In an announcement from the European Parliament, Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg (S&D, PL), who is steering the legislation through Parliament and led the negotiations, welcomed the deal as a: “first step towards harmonisation of copyright rules in the EU”.

de Oedenberg commented, “The regulation will promote culture and finally make it possible to make some hidden treasures available to the general public”.

Although not a formal deal, the informal agreement sends a clear signal of intent on behalf of the Parliament. The proposals will now require ratification through the Legal Affairs Committee before presentation to Council and Parliament.

For more information, read the European Parliament announcement at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/sv/pressroom/content/20120606IPR46383/html/Orphan-works-informal-deal-done-between-MEPs-and-Council.

Although loosely-defined, ‘Public Sector Information’ is broadly categorised as ‘information produced by public bodies’, and includes maps, traffic, financial, legal, meteorological and other types of data. The original Public Sector Information Directive was adopted by the Commission in 2003.

The package of open data measures includes:

• An Open Data Strategy for Europe, which seeks to increase the amount of PSI licensed for open re-use
• Proposed changes to the PSI Directive (including the withdrawal of the existing exemption for museums and libraries
• New proposals concerning the Commission’s own data

The changes are informed by the Commission’s commitment to the Digital Agenda 2020, a strategic framework which seeks to promote economic growth and business innovation through digital literacy and citizenship. Evidence was provided by the 2011 report produced by Graham Vickery and by the research undertaken by the Collections Trust with Ithaka and Curtis & Cartwright.

The Commission’s communication about the Open Data Strategy, along with the detailed proposals of changes to the PSI Directive can be downloaded from their website.