A directive is a legal act of the European Union that requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. Directives first have to be enacted into national law by member states before their laws are ruling on individuals residing in their countries. Directives normally leave member states with a certain amount of leeway as to …

The European single market, internal market or common market is a single market comprising the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) as well as – with certain exceptions – Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway through the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and Switzerland through sectoral treaties.The single market seeks to guarantee the free …

The Data Protection Directive, officially Directive 95/46/EC, enacted in October 1995, is a European Union directive which regulates the processing of personal data within the European Union (EU) and the free movement of such data. The Data Protection Directive is an important component of EU privacy and human rights law.. The principles set out in the Data Protection …

The primacy of European Union law (sometimes referred to as supremacy or precedence of European law) is a legal principle establishing precedence of European Union law over conflicting national laws of EU member states.. The principle was derived from an interpretation of the European Court of Justice, which ruled that European law has priority over any contravening …

For a date based list, see the Category:European Union directives by number. Numbering. From 1 January 1992 to 31 December 2014, numbers assigned by the General Secretariat of the Council followed adoption, for instance: Directive 2010/75/EU. Since 2015, acts have been numbered following the pattern (domain) YYYY/N, for instance "Regulation (EU) 2016/1627" with

Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content.Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM technologies govern the use, modification, and distribution of copyrighted works (such as software and multimedia content), …

The term "piracy" has been used to refer to the unauthorized copying, distribution and selling of works in copyright. It dates back to at least 1700, as attested to in Edward Ward's 1700 poem A Journey to Hell:. Piracy, Piracy, they cry'd aloud, / What made you print my Copy, Sir, says one The practice of labeling the infringement of exclusive rights in creative works as "piracy" …

Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information, known as the PSI Directive, now called Open Data Directive, is an EU directive that stipulates minimum requirements for EU member states regarding making public sector information available for re-use. This directive provides a common legislative framework for this area. The Directive is an attempt to remove …

A regulation is a legal act of the European Union that becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously. Regulations can be distinguished from directives which, at least in principle, need to be transposed into national law.Regulations can be adopted by means of a variety of legislative procedures depending on their subject matter.

European patent law covers a range of legislations including national patent laws, the Strasbourg Convention of 1963, the European Patent Convention of 1973, and a number of European Union directives and regulations.For some states in Eastern Europe, the Eurasian Patent Convention applies.. Patents having effect in most European states may be obtained …