A Move to Unify Europe's Media Market

Serving as a member of the European Parliament can be a thankless task. Lobbyists accost you from all corners. Tabloid newspapers complain about your expenses. And after a day of plenary sessions in Strasbourg, you might not be able to watch television shows from your home country without breaking the law. On that last issue, at least, there may be hope for change — thanks in part to action by the Parliament.

Last week it called for a long-overdue overhaul of European copyright laws, aimed at fostering the development of a single European media market. For now, there is no such thing; even on the supposedly borderless Internet, most music and video services are fragmented according to European national boundaries. Licensing restrictions are often to blame. Just to show a television program in one country, broadcasters need to clear a range of copyrights covering writers, musicians, actors and others. Trying to do this across all 27 E.U. countries is incredibly cumbersome and hardly cost-effective. Parliament members and other E.U. officials in Brussels want to introduce one-size-fits-all licenses for the entire Union.