Questions Asked About EU Appointing IFPI Lobbyist To Copyright Role

from the now,-what-will-the-answers-be dept

Following the news that the EU Commission was apparently appointing a top lobbyist from the IFPI to the position of being in charge of copyright policy, two European Parliament Members, Christian Engstrom and Marietje Schaake have asked the Commission to explain the apparent conflict of interest:

Does the Commission not see any problems in recruiting top civil servants from special interest organisations, especially when being put in charge of dossiers directly related to their former employers? If not, why not?

Does the Commission feel that such an appointment would help to build confidence with the European Parliament and the general public that the Commission can be trusted to handle copyright-related issues in a fair and balanced manner?

Elsewhere, KEI has done a good job highlighting some of Maria Martin-Plat's previously stated positions, including this lovely one: "private copying [has] no reason to exist and should be limited further than it is." Just the person to lead on 21st century copyright issues, huh?

Filed Under: conflict, eu, lobbying, maria martin-plat, politics
Companies: ifpi