| Dokumendiregister | Justiitsministeerium |
| Viit | 10-4/1539-1 |
| Registreeritud | 11.02.2025 |
| Sünkroonitud | 12.02.2025 |
| Liik | Sissetulev kiri |
| Funktsioon | 10 Õiguspoliitika alase tegevuse korraldamine |
| Sari | 10-4 Kirjavahetus asutuste ja isikutega |
| Toimik | 10-4/2025 |
| Juurdepääsupiirang | Avalik |
| Juurdepääsupiirang | |
| Adressaat | NEWS MEDIA EUROPE |
| Saabumis/saatmisviis | NEWS MEDIA EUROPE |
| Vastutaja | Erik Janson (Justiits- ja Digiministeerium, Kantsleri vastutusvaldkond, Digitaristu- ja küberturvalisuse osakond) |
| Originaal | Ava uues aknas |
Tähelepanu! Tegemist on välisvõrgust saabunud kirjaga. |
Tähelepanu! Tegemist on välisvõrgust saabunud kirjaga. |
[signed copy of this letter in attachment]
Dear Madam Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta,
News Media Europe took note of the Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs’ decision to provide Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with the open data of the Estonian language corpus[1], containing almost 4 billion words. We urge the Ministry to reconsider its decision, or at least suspend it until the Ministry has agreed with rightsholders, including news publishers, on the appropriate framework for the use of their content by Meta under this deal.
News Media Europe recalls that any media content – including the content archives of publications – is an important asset for publishers
and that copyright and related rights do apply. While we wholeheartedly subscribe to the notion that the sustainability of the Estonian language and culture needs to be safeguarded in the development of large language models, the reality of the relevant legal
frameworks and the protections offered therein to rightsholders, cannot and should not be ignored.
Doing so undermines the legal rights and the financial sustainability of editorial media, who contribute uniquely to the security of Estonia
and the EU by building information resilience against foreign interference and manipulation, while underpinning the democratic processes.
In connection with this, we ask for information:
Wout van Wijk
Executive Director
NEWS MEDIA EUROPE
EU Transparency Register ID: 577812220311-81
Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs
Liisa-Ly Pakosta
Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs
Suur-Ameerika 1, Tallinn 10122
Estonia
Open data of the Estonian language and META
Brussels, 10 February 2025
Dear Madam Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta,
News Media Europe took note of the Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs’ decision to provide
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with the open data of the Estonian
language corpus1, containing almost 4 billion words. We urge the Ministry to reconsider its decision, or
at least suspend it until the Ministry has agreed with rightsholders, including news publishers, on the
appropriate framework for the use of their content by Meta under this deal.
News Media Europe recalls that any media content – including the content archives of publications – is
an important asset for publishers and that copyright and related rights do apply. While we
wholeheartedly subscribe to the notion that the sustainability of the Estonian language and culture
needs to be safeguarded in the development of large language models, the reality of the relevant legal
frameworks and the protections offered therein to rightsholders, cannot and should not be ignored.
Doing so undermines the legal rights and the financial sustainability of editorial media, who contribute
uniquely to the security of Estonia and the EU by building information resilience against foreign
interference and manipulation, while underpinning the democratic processes.
In connection with this, we ask for information:
- What data does the "Open Data of the Estonian Language Corpus" contain, and more
specifically, does it contain copyrighted content of media companies (including members
of the Estonian Association of Media Companies), to what extent and in what form?
- On what legal basis (incl. in the sense of AutÕS and IKS) was the content in the above-
mentioned dataset transferred to Meta (or, if this transfer has not yet taken place, on what
legal basis is it planned/intended to transfer this content)?
1 https://www.justdigi.ee/en/news/meta-interested-using-open-data-estonian-language-corpus
- Under what conditions was it agreed/planned to agree with Meta on the use of language
corpus content and what safeguards were taken by the Ministry and/or other parties to the
agreement to prevent unlawful use of data (incl. in application outputs)?
- What steps has the Ministry taken to protect the rights of Estonian authors and owners of
related rights in the content of the database described above, to obtain their permission
and to pay them fair remuneration? If the content of media companies was
transferred/given to Meta (and another developer of a large language model) without
permission and free of charge, how is it intended to remedy the damage caused by this
offence?
Thank you, Minister, for your kind consideration, and I remain at your disposal for any enquiries you
might have.
Yours sincerely,
Wout van Wijk
Executive Director
News Media Europe
Square de Meeus 35
1000 Brussels
Belgium
+32 473685864
Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs
Liisa-Ly Pakosta
Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs
Suur-Ameerika 1, Tallinn 10122
Estonia
Open data of the Estonian language and META
Brussels, 10 February 2025
Dear Madam Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta,
News Media Europe took note of the Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs’ decision to provide
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with the open data of the Estonian
language corpus1, containing almost 4 billion words. We urge the Ministry to reconsider its decision, or
at least suspend it until the Ministry has agreed with rightsholders, including news publishers, on the
appropriate framework for the use of their content by Meta under this deal.
News Media Europe recalls that any media content – including the content archives of publications – is
an important asset for publishers and that copyright and related rights do apply. While we
wholeheartedly subscribe to the notion that the sustainability of the Estonian language and culture
needs to be safeguarded in the development of large language models, the reality of the relevant legal
frameworks and the protections offered therein to rightsholders, cannot and should not be ignored.
Doing so undermines the legal rights and the financial sustainability of editorial media, who contribute
uniquely to the security of Estonia and the EU by building information resilience against foreign
interference and manipulation, while underpinning the democratic processes.
In connection with this, we ask for information:
- What data does the "Open Data of the Estonian Language Corpus" contain, and more
specifically, does it contain copyrighted content of media companies (including members
of the Estonian Association of Media Companies), to what extent and in what form?
- On what legal basis (incl. in the sense of AutÕS and IKS) was the content in the above-
mentioned dataset transferred to Meta (or, if this transfer has not yet taken place, on what
legal basis is it planned/intended to transfer this content)?
1 https://www.justdigi.ee/en/news/meta-interested-using-open-data-estonian-language-corpus
- Under what conditions was it agreed/planned to agree with Meta on the use of language
corpus content and what safeguards were taken by the Ministry and/or other parties to the
agreement to prevent unlawful use of data (incl. in application outputs)?
- What steps has the Ministry taken to protect the rights of Estonian authors and owners of
related rights in the content of the database described above, to obtain their permission
and to pay them fair remuneration? If the content of media companies was
transferred/given to Meta (and another developer of a large language model) without
permission and free of charge, how is it intended to remedy the damage caused by this
offence?
Thank you, Minister, for your kind consideration, and I remain at your disposal for any enquiries you
might have.
Yours sincerely,
Wout van Wijk
Executive Director
News Media Europe
Square de Meeus 35
1000 Brussels
Belgium
+32 473685864