AFS' Position on the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market

Europe’s copyright framework is one of the most important factors in whether the next generation of AI startups can be built here at all. Every model trained, every product fine-tuned, every founder iterating on a new idea depends on lawful, predictable access to data. Get that framework wrong, and European AI development risks moving elsewhere.

Allied For Startups welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commission’s targeted initiative to review the Copyright in the Digital Single Market (CDSM) Directive. As a network representing startup ecosystems across Europe, we bring the perspective of founders building the next generation of AI-driven products and services.

The text and data mining (TDM) exceptions under Articles 3 and 4 of the CDSM Directive are essential to this work. For startups, TDM exceptions are a precondition for participating in the AI economy, as licensing at scale is often economically impossible for early-stage companies. Without functioning TDM exceptions, European startups cannot build competitive AI models.

In practice, the current implementation falls short. Startups face barriers to lawful data access, inconsistent opt-out mechanisms, and fragmented national implementation. There is also unresolved ambiguity over whether TDM exceptions apply to AI training, which the Commission should address.

We urge the Commission to remove outdated distinctions in the TDM scientific exception and reject mandatory licensing schemes or rebuttable presumptions of use that would create disproportionate costs for startups.

This review is an opportunity to ensure Europe’s copyright framework is legally certain, coherent, and consistently implemented across Member States.