A/HRC/28/57 49. Measures beyond copyright law can also advance the right to protection of authorship. Artistic livelihoods may be supported by, for example, minimum wage protections, collective bargaining power, social security guarantees, budgetary support for the arts, artistic education, library purchasing, immigration and visa policies and measures to promote cultural tourism. Copyright laws should be understood as part of a larger set of policies to promote the cultural sector and the right to science and culture. 50. In contrast to the perpetual moral interests of authors, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has emphasized that the material interests of authors need not necessarily be protected forever, or even for an author’s entire life (general comment No. 17, para. 16). The human right to protection of authorship is fully compatible with an approach to copyright that limits the terms of protection in order to ensure a vibrant public domain of shared cultural heritage, from which all creators are free to draw. 51. The Special Rapporteur received a number of contributions, which expressed the concerns of copyright holders about the threat cultural industries face due to digital piracy enabled by evolving digital technologies. Proposals to address that situation as related to the Internet include website blocking, content filtering and other limits on access to content subject to copyright, as well as the liability imposed on intermediaries for infringing content disseminated by users. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, such measures could result in restrictions that are not compatible with the right to freedom of expression and the right to science and culture.15 Additional concern is expressed over the deployment of aggressive means of combating digital piracy, including denial of Internet access, high statutory damages or fines and criminal sanctions for non-commercial infringement. There are also issues of piracy unrelated to the Internet. In the Special Rapporteur’s opinion, that important topic requires additional study from a human rights perspective. D. Copyright law and the human right to property 52. An alternative human rights basis for intellectual property protection is recognized through the lens of the right to property in the European regional human rights system, as well as in some national constitutions both within and outside Europe. 16 The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union specifically calls for the protection of intellectual property within the general rubric of property (art. 17, para. 2). 53. The right to property obliges States to respect the copyright laws that they have adopted.17 It does not, however, mandate any particular approach to copyright policy. States are free to adjust copyright rules through legal processes to promote the interests of authors, the right of everyone to take part in cultural life and other human rights such as the right to education. Within the right to property framework, it is also acceptable to assure authors’ interests through rules granting a right to remuneration rather than a right to exclude, as well as rules granting rights to exclusion or remuneration in some, but not all, circumstances.18 54. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in paragraph 15 of its general comment No. 17, for its part, avoided the conflation of the term “material interests” 15 16 17 18 See Article 19, The Right to Share: Principles on Freedom of Expression and Copyright in the Digital Age, International Standards Series (London, 2013). Available from www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/3716/13-04-23-right-to-share-EN.pdf. Helfer and Austin, Human Rights and Intellectual Property, pp. 212–220 and 511. See European Court of Human Rights, Balan v. Moldova, application No. 19247/03, judgement of 29 January 2008. Available from http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-84720. Geiger, “Promoting Creativity” , pp. 534–544. 11