The European Union Copyright Directive ("EUCD") based on the 1996 WIPO [World Intellectual Property Organization] Copyright Treaty, required by the 1995 TRIPS [Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights] Agreement. It is the European analogue to the US's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Some of its controversial provisions impose penalties for distributing methods to circumvent copy protection schemes or region blocking access controls (used in media like DVDs).