# EuroDIG Session Proposal: Palimpsest License Framework

## Session Title
**Protecting European Creators in the AI Age: Multi-Stakeholder Governance for Content Attribution**

## Session Format
**Workshop** (90 minutes)

## Abstract
The European Union's AI Act and Digital Services Act mandate transparent training data practices and content traceability, yet lack concrete technical and governance mechanisms for implementation. This workshop examines the Palimpsest License framework—a multi-stakeholder approach to creative content attribution combining technical infrastructure (DNS-based license discovery, metadata preservation), legal innovation (layered consent, emotional lineage protection), and participatory governance. We convene creators, technologists, policymakers, and platform representatives to develop European best practices for balancing AI innovation with creator rights, cultural preservation, and fundamental rights.

## Problem Statement

### European Context
European creators and cultural institutions face unprecedented challenges:
1. **AI Training Without Consent**: Generative AI systems scrape European cultural heritage and creative works without authorisation
2. **Cultural Sovereignty**: European linguistic and cultural diversity inadequately represented in global AI training datasets
3. **Fundamental Rights**: Tension between copyright, freedom of expression, and cultural participation
4. **Regulatory Fragmentation**: AI Act, DSA, Copyright Directive, GDPR create complex compliance landscape
5. **Power Asymmetry**: Individual creators and small institutions lack leverage against large AI corporations

### Multi-Stakeholder Dimensions
- **Creators**: Need practical tools for protecting work whilst enabling legitimate reuse
- **Platforms**: Require clear technical standards for regulatory compliance
- **Policymakers**: Seek implementable mechanisms for legislative intent
- **Civil Society**: Concerned about surveillance, access, and cultural diversity
- **Technical Community**: Must balance innovation with responsibility

### Why EuroDIG?
This issue exemplifies internet governance challenges requiring multi-stakeholder dialogue:
- Cross-border coordination (Member States, EU institutions, international bodies)
- Technical, legal, and social dimensions
- Balance between regulation and innovation
- Cultural and linguistic diversity
- Fundamental rights implications

## Goals and Expected Outcomes

### Primary Goals
1. **Foster multi-stakeholder consensus** on principles for AI-era creative attribution
2. **Identify governance models** suitable for European context
3. **Map regulatory landscape** (AI Act, DSA, Copyright Directive)
4. **Develop best practices** for implementation across Member States
5. **Build coalition** for ongoing coordination

### Expected Outcomes
- Multi-stakeholder statement of principles
- Roadmap for European implementation
- Coordination mechanism between EU institutions, Member States, and stakeholders
- Input to AI Act delegated acts and implementation guidelines
- Template for national-level adaptation

## Session Agenda (90 minutes)

### Introduction and Framing (15 minutes)
- **0:00-0:05**: Welcome and participant introductions
- **0:05-0:10**: Problem statement: AI, creators, and European values
- **0:10-0:15**: Overview of Palimpsest License framework as case study

### Multi-Stakeholder Perspectives (30 minutes)
- **0:15-0:22**: **Creator Perspective** (7 min)
  - Independent artists, writers, musicians
  - Cultural heritage institutions
  - Diaspora and minority language communities
  - Case study: Dutch-language content and AI training
- **0:22-0:29**: **Platform and Industry Perspective** (7 min)
  - Hosting providers and CDNs
  - European tech companies and start-ups
  - AI developers and researchers
  - Compliance costs and technical feasibility
- **0:29-0:36**: **Policy and Regulatory Perspective** (7 min)
  - European Commission (DG CONNECT, DG CNECT)
  - National regulators and IP offices
  - AI Act and DSA implementation
  - Member State variations
- **0:36-0:43**: **Civil Society and Rights Perspective** (7 min)
  - Digital rights organisations (EDRi, Access Now)
  - Access to knowledge advocates
  - Cultural diversity and linguistic rights
  - Privacy and surveillance concerns
- **0:43-0:45**: **Clarifying questions** (2 min)

### Interactive Workshop (30 minutes)
- **0:45-1:00**: **Breakout Groups** (15 min)
  - Group 1: Technical implementation and standards
  - Group 2: Governance models and multi-stakeholder coordination
  - Group 3: Regulatory alignment and Member State coordination
  - Group 4: Cultural diversity and fundamental rights
- **1:00-1:15**: **Report Back** (15 min)
  - Each group presents key findings (3-4 min each)
  - Common themes and tensions

### Synthesis and Next Steps (15 minutes)
- **1:15-1:23**: **Synthesis Discussion** (8 min)
  - Areas of consensus
  - Outstanding challenges
  - Trade-offs and compromises
- **1:23-1:28**: **Action Planning** (5 min)
  - Follow-up coordination mechanism
  - Input to EU policy processes
  - National-level initiatives
- **1:28-1:30**: **Closing and Contact Information** (2 min)

## Target Audience

### Multi-Stakeholder Composition
- **Creators and Creative Industries**: 20%
  - Individual artists, writers, musicians
  - Publishers, labels, production companies
  - Collective management organisations (CISAC, GESAC)
- **Technical Community**: 25%
  - Internet infrastructure operators
  - Standards bodies (W3C, IETF liaisons)
  - Open source developers
- **Government and Regulators**: 20%
  - European Commission officials
  - National IP offices and regulators
  - MEPs and parliamentary staff
- **Civil Society**: 20%
  - Digital rights organisations
  - Access to knowledge advocates
  - Cultural heritage sector
- **Academia and Research**: 15%
  - AI ethics researchers
  - Legal scholars
  - Digital humanities

### Expected Attendance
50-70 participants (appropriate for interactive workshop format)

## Required Resources

### Venue Requirements
- Workshop room with flexible seating for 70 people
- Space for breakout groups (4 separate discussion areas)
- Standard EuroDIG A/V equipment
- Recording and streaming (if permitted)
- Duration: 90 minutes

### Technical Requirements
- Presentation capabilities for 5-6 speakers
- Flipcharts or digital whiteboards for breakout groups
- Remote participation tools (Zoom, collaborative documents)
- Live transcription (multilingual if possible)

### Materials
- Session agenda and discussion questions (70 copies, English)
- Palimpsest License one-page summary (70 copies)
- Breakout group prompts and note-taking templates
- QR codes to background documentation

## Organisers and Speakers

### Lead Organiser: [Dr. Klaus Hoffmann]
**Role**: European Internet Governance Specialist
**Background**: Dr. Hoffmann has extensive experience in EU digital policy, having advised on DSA and AI Act negotiations. He has participated in EuroDIG since 2015 and serves on several multi-stakeholder advisory groups. Based in Brussels, he brings deep understanding of EU institutions and policy processes.

### Co-Organiser: [Elena Popescu]
**Role**: Creator Representative and Civil Society Advocate
**Background**: Elena is a Romanian-born artist and cultural activist working on minority language preservation and diaspora narratives. She represents creator perspectives on the Palimpsest Stewardship Council and has spoken at EuroDIG on cultural diversity and digital rights. She is affiliated with EDRi and cultural heritage organisations.

### Co-Organiser: [Marieke van der Berg]
**Role**: Technical Infrastructure Specialist
**Background**: Marieke brings network operations experience from SIDN (.nl registry) and has presented at RIPE on DNS security and metadata. She bridges technical implementation with policy discussions and ensures feasibility of proposed approaches. Based in Netherlands.

### Panel Moderator: [Prof. Annabelle Laroche]
**Role**: Neutral Academic Moderator
**Background**: Prof. Laroche researches internet governance and multi-stakeholder processes at Sciences Po Paris. She has moderated previous EuroDIG sessions and brings expertise in facilitating constructive dialogue across stakeholder groups. She has published on AI governance and European digital sovereignty.

### Confirmed Speakers
- **Creator Perspective**: [Kofi Mensah], Nigerian-Dutch musician and cultural producer
- **Platform Perspective**: [Representative from European CDN/hosting provider - TBC]
- **Policy Perspective**: [European Commission official, DG CNECT - invited]
- **Civil Society Perspective**: [Fiona Murray], Access Now European Policy Director
- **Technical Perspective**: [Dr. Sarah Chen], AI ethics and technical standards

## Pre-Session Preparation

### Consultation Process
- Online survey of European creators and platforms (4 weeks before)
- Pre-session webinar for stakeholder onboarding (2 weeks before)
- Circulation of background materials and discussion prompts
- Coordination with European Commission officials

### Background Documents
- Palimpsest License framework overview (5 pages, multilingual)
- AI Act and DSA compliance analysis
- Multi-stakeholder governance models comparison
- Case studies from Member States

### Stakeholder Outreach
- European creator organisations (GESAC, EWC, FIM, UNI MEI)
- Platform associations (EDiMA, DIGITALEUROPE)
- Civil society networks (EDRi, Communia, IFLA Europe)
- Academic networks (FAccT Europe, Digital Humanities)
- European Commission and Council working groups

## European Regulatory Mapping

### AI Act (Regulation EU 2024/...)
- **Article 53**: Transparency obligations for general-purpose AI
- **Article 54**: Training data documentation requirements
- **Recital 108**: Copyright and fundamental rights safeguards
- **Delegated Acts**: Technical implementation standards (forthcoming)

### Digital Services Act (Regulation EU 2022/2065)
- **Article 14**: Terms and conditions transparency
- **Article 24**: Transparency for recommender systems
- **Article 40**: Traceability requirements for VLOPs

### Copyright Directive (Directive EU 2019/790)
- **Article 17**: Platform liability for user-uploaded content
- **Article 4**: Text and data mining exceptions
- **Recital 70**: Appropriate measures for rightholder protection

### GDPR (Regulation EU 2016/679)
- **Article 5**: Data minimisation and purpose limitation
- **Article 25**: Privacy by design and default
- **Articles 12-22**: Data subject rights

## Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

### European Language Considerations
The Palimpsest framework addresses:
- **Multilingual metadata**: Support for all 24 official EU languages
- **Minority languages**: Regional and minority language preservation (Catalan, Welsh, Sámi, etc.)
- **Non-Latin scripts**: Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic script support
- **Translation challenges**: Legal terminology across language families

### Cultural Heritage Protection
- **National libraries and archives**: British Library, BnF, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
- **Regional cultural institutions**: Minority and diaspora heritage
- **Europeana**: Pan-European digital cultural heritage
- **UNESCO Memory of the World**: World heritage documentation

## Multi-Stakeholder Governance

### Proposed Coordination Mechanism
- **European Palimpsest Working Group**: Representatives from all stakeholder categories
- **Quarterly coordination calls**: Aligned with EuroDIG annual cycle
- **National focal points**: Coordination in Member States
- **EU institutional liaison**: Commission, Council, Parliament engagement

### Governance Principles
- **Inclusivity**: Representation of diverse creator communities
- **Transparency**: Open documentation and decision-making processes
- **Accountability**: Clear responsibilities and recourse mechanisms
- **Proportionality**: Avoiding excessive burden on small actors
- **Subsidiarity**: Member State flexibility within common framework

## Success Criteria

This session will be considered successful if:
1. Active participation from all stakeholder categories
2. Constructive dialogue yielding areas of consensus
3. Concrete follow-up actions identified
4. Commitment to ongoing coordination mechanism
5. Input generated for EU policy processes

## Follow-Up Plan

### Immediate (Within 2 weeks)
- Publish session report with key findings and recommendations
- Synthesise multi-stakeholder statement (if consensus achieved)
- Identify participants for ongoing working group
- Share outcomes with European Commission and relevant DGs

### Short-term (3-6 months)
- Establish European Palimpsest Working Group
- Provide input to AI Act delegated acts
- Coordinate national-level initiatives (Netherlands, France, Germany pilots)
- Present findings at European Parliament

### Long-term (12 months)
- Develop European best practices guide
- Support Member State implementation
- Coordinate with international efforts (UN IGF, OECD AI working groups)
- Evaluate and iterate governance model

## Alignment with EuroDIG Themes

### EuroDIG 2025 Themes (Anticipated)
- **AI and Fundamental Rights**: Direct alignment with AI Act implementation
- **Digital Sovereignty**: European capacity for cultural and linguistic autonomy
- **Platform Governance**: Multi-stakeholder oversight of AI systems
- **Cultural Diversity**: Preservation of European linguistic heritage
- **Human Rights Online**: Freedom of expression, access to culture, creator rights

### Cross-Cutting Issues
- **Gender and Inclusion**: Women creators and marginalised communities
- **Youth Engagement**: Next generation of creators
- **Accessibility**: Ensuring inclusive participation
- **Global South**: Solidarity with creators in developing countries

## Contact Information

**Primary Contact**: Dr. Klaus Hoffmann
Email: k.hoffmann@palimpsest-license.org
EuroDIG Profile: klaushoffmann
Location: Brussels, Belgium

**Co-Organisers**:
- Elena Popescu: e.popescu@palimpsest-license.org
- Marieke van der Berg: m.vandeberg@palimpsest-license.org

**Mailing List**: europe@palimpsest-license.org
**Project Website**: https://palimpsest-license.org
**Background Documents**: https://palimpsest-license.org/eurodig2025

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**Document Version**: 1.0
**Last Updated**: 22 November 2025
**Status**: Draft for EuroDIG 2025 Submission
**Session Format**: Workshop (Interactive Multi-Stakeholder)
**Language**: English (with multilingual materials)
