AI streamlining federal acquisition processes
In the digital landscape of 2025, platforms operating within the European Economic Area (EEA) face a set of stringent regulations aimed at protecting copyright and ensuring fair use of content.
Firstly, the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, finalised in 2019 and fully effective by 2025, necessitates online content sharing service providers to take "effective and proportionate measures" to prevent the availability of unlicensed copyrighted works[1]. This includes responding promptly to rightsholders' requests to remove such content and making "best efforts" to prevent future unauthorized availability.
The directive primarily applies to commercial platforms that store and give public access to large amounts of user-uploaded content for profit. Exemptions exist for private cloud services, non-profit encyclopedias like Wikipedia, and educational/scientific non-profit repositories[1].
In addition, the directive requires fair and balanced licensing agreements with rightsholders if a platform automatically reproduces or links to copyright-protected visual works[1].
When it comes to AI and web crawling, platforms and AI providers placing general-purpose AI (GPAI) models on the EU market must conform to EU copyright law. This includes reproducing or extracting only lawfully accessible copyright-protected content and respecting technological protective measures like paywalls or subscription access controls[2].
AI providers should avoid crawling websites recognised as persistently or repeatedly infringing copyright at a commercial scale in the EU and EEA. Crawlers must also comply with instructions such as those expressed in the robots.txt protocol to honour rights reservations and access restrictions[2].
These rules imply that platforms must consider geolocation-based restrictions, as content availability might differ within the EEA compared to other regions due to licensing agreements and copyright enforcement[1][2].
Furthermore, under the EU Data Act effective September 2025, data sharing obligations apply broadly across connected products and services. Smaller enterprises have some exemptions from the heaviest obligations, but data and content access remain tightly regulated across the EEA with a pan-EU approach, meaning routing traffic through specific member states to circumvent rules is not permitted[3].
In summary, platforms operating within the EEA in 2025 must comply with the Digital Single Market copyright directive, enforce effective content licensing and removal for copyrighted materials, respect technological access restrictions, and abide by location-sensitive rules limiting access to protected content. AI-based content extractors and web crawlers targeting EEA content should strictly follow lawful access norms and technical protocols to avoid infringing rights in the region[1][2][3].
[1] European Parliament and Council of the European Union. (2019). Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC.
[2] European Commission. (2021). Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a European approach for artificial intelligence, and amending Regulations (EU) 2019/1020 and (EU) 2019/1018 as regards the use of artificial intelligence.
[3] European Commission. (2021). Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a European Data Strategy and amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 as regards the European Data Innovation Board and the European Data Innovation Council.
- In the future, as AI and web crawling technologies advance, AI providers within the European Economic Area (EEA) must adhere to EU copyright law, ensuring they solely reproduce or extract lawfully accessible copyright-protected content and respect technological protective measures.
- In the digital realm of 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) working in tandem with technology, particularly web crawling, must abide by the European Union's rules in the EEA, avoiding infringing on rights by respecting licensing agreements, location-sensitive rules, and technical protocols regarding copyrighted materials.
