The Final Vote It’s official: the European Parliament has finally approved the controversial Copyright Directive, which is designed to overhaul online copyright law in the EU. The law is divisive. Especially Article 13: opponents call it a “meme ban,” and say it’ll limit freedom of speech by forcing “upload filters” on any user-uploaded content and give big tech an even stronger grip online. Advocates, on the other hand, say that it will force big tech to pay their fair share. What’s certain: the internet in Europe will never be the same. “Meme Ban” One controversial part of the Directive, which many observers have dubbed a “meme ban,” would force major platforms like YouTube to filter every single upload to prevent copyright infringement. Supporters of the Directive say that “meme ban” is inaccurate, since memes would fall under the label of “parodies” and thereby be protected, but opponents argue that automatic upload filters won’t know any better. Advertisement Advertisement Dark Day Another stipulation, which opponents have dubbed the “link tax,” would force news aggregators — including heavyweights like Google News — to remunerate publishers for linking to their articles. Member of Parliament Julia Reda, a vocal opponent to the EU’s Copyright Directive has argued that small publishers with less brand recognition could lose out — and called it a “dark day for internet freedom.” READ MORE: Europe’s controversial overhaul of online copyright receives final approval [The Verge] More on the Copyright Directive: European Parliament Approves Controversial “Meme Ban” Advertisement Advertisement As a Futurism reader, we invite you join the Singularity Global Community, our parent company’s forum to discuss futuristic science & technology with like-minded people from all over the world. It’s free to join, sign up now!<doc-sep>"While Article 13 may have noble aims, in its current form it functions as little more than a set of ideals, with very little guidance on exactly which service providers will be caught by it or what steps will be sufficient to comply," she said.<doc-sep>EU passes controversial Article 13 that critics have warned could 'ban memes' The 'Copyright Directive' was backed by the European Parliament on Tuesday. The EU has backed a controversial directive that makes major changes to copyright regulation online, one that critics have warned could alter the way in which users access the internet. Advertisement If it is accepted into law by European Union member states, it will mean that technology companies become responsible for material posted to their websites without proper copyright permission. The 'Copyright Directive' was backed by 348 MEPs for to 278 against when it came before the European Parliament on Tuesday. Two clauses to the legislation - known as Article 11 and Article 13 - have proved particularly controversial. Article 11 means that search engines and news aggregation platforms should pay to use links from news websites, while Article 13 means that tech companies are made liable for material posted without a copyright licence. It has been argued that Article 13, in particular, could mean the end of memes being posted online. However, the EU has said that 'parody' being an exemption to the rule will mean that most memes and short viral video clips will not be covered by the legislation. A number of big tech companies, including YouTube, Reddit, Twitter and Twitch, have come out against the changes. However, musicians and artists have welcomed the move, as it could see them receive more royalties for their work being used online. "The platforms need to have a responsibility and we want to give them that responsibility to deal responsibly with copyrighted content where the rights-holders are not those platforms,” Axel Voss, an MEP and proponent of Article 13, told AP. Advertisement However, a spokesperson for Google said the law will "lead to legal uncertainty and will hurt Europe's creative and digital economies". "The details matter, and we look forward to working with policy makers, publishers, creators and rights holders as EU member states move to implement these new rules," the company said in a statement. Julia Reda, an MEP from Germany, claimed the vote marked a "dark day for internet freedom".<doc-sep>The EU is updating its copyright rules Alexander Pohl/NurPhoto via Getty What is Article 13? The European Union has passed a wide-reaching update to copyright laws, the first since 2001. Most of the changes in the EU Copyright Directive are uncontroversial, setting out how copyright contracts are managed and licensed, but Article 13 could have a huge impact on how material is shared online. Put simply, it makes websites responsible for ensuring that content uploaded to their platforms doesn’t breach copyright. The updates will become law once member states enshrine the rules in legislation in their own countries. Advertisement OK, but what does that mean? The EU says the directive is about making “copyright rules fit for the digital era”. To comply with Article 13, platforms such as YouTube and Soundcloud will need to ensure that any copyrighted material on their sites is licensed, guaranteeing the original artist receives payment for its use. Certain services are exempted, including non-profit encyclopaedias like Wikipedia, software development platforms like Github, and cloud storage services. Why do we need it? Rightsholders say that the rules will put an end to the days of pirating music and video online, and ensure artists receive a fair payment for their work. Supporters of the directive include musicians Debbie Harry and Paul McCartney. The rules are also intended to challenge the power of tech giants like Google and YouTube, forcing them to pay for content they aggregate. However, critics say the opposite is true, with smaller websites most adversely affected by the directive. How does it affect the way I use the internet? Should I be worried? It is platform owners rather than internet users who bear the brunt of these new rules, but they may spell the end of some of your favourite content-sharing websites. If you own a website or a forum in which people can post text, images or video clips, you will be responsible for ensuring no unlicensed material appears. For many, it will be easier to pull the plug. Why is it controversial? How long have you got? Users say the rules risk killing off vibrant internet culture, such as memes, which often repurpose unlicensed material. And the legal status of streamers, who post videos of themselves playing video games online, is in question. Website owners aren’t required to install content monitoring software to detect copyright material, but practically it will be impossible to guarantee a site isn’t infringing the rules without this software. “It’s very hard to make these tools identifying content, because they can’t identify context, and so they make decisions that are likely to be bad,” says Jim Killock at the Open Rights Group, a UK digital rights campaign group. Users would risk having their content removed by overzealous bots. While Article 13 also requires site owners to implement a complaints process to deal with disputed decisions, Killock says this is unlikely to fix the problem. “Our experience pretty much everywhere is people generally don’t complain. They worry about the effects on their reputation, worry about the legal ramifications, so these tools would have a chilling effect.” Rather than risk further sanctions, users may simply stop making content for online publication. Although websites less than three years old, or with less than €10 million annual turnover are exempt, the websites will still need to plan for when those caveats no longer apply to them. Still, something must be done about piracy, right? That depends on who you ask. Music and video producers have lobbied hard to see the new changes passed. Others question whether the problem of copyright infringement is serious enough to require such sweeping legislation. For certain, tech companies going into business in Europe will have to negotiate an extra layer of regulation which didn’t exist before. Critics say many of them will simply opt to set up in the US instead. What happens next? To become law, EU member states must pass legislation that adheres to the rules set out in the directive, so it is likely to be some time before the restrictions take effect. There is likely to be a series of campaigns against the changes as well as legal challenges in national and EU courts.<doc-sep>
Copyright Directive The doomsday clock is ticking for European internet users. Last night, the European Parliament approved the final text of a controversial online copyright law that would force internet platforms to filter everything users upload for copyright — including memes — and charge news aggregators to link to news publications. The move comes after months of adjustments to the Parliament’s proposed Copyright Directive. Parliament members will gather for a final vote later this year. Most contentious of all are two Articles included in the proposed Copyright Directive: Article 11 This rule, dubbed the “link tax,” would force news aggregators — including heavyweights like Google News — to get a license from news publishers and remunerate them for linking to their articles. Parliament member Julia Reda, a prominent opponent of the new law, has argued that small publishers with less brand recognition could lose out — and that the law could boost fake news by discouraging the sharing of reputable news that would charge more. Article 13 Arguably even more controversial is Article 13, which some publishers have called a “meme ban.” This rule would force major platforms like YouTube to filter every single upload to prevent copyright infringement. That could end up severely limiting the freedom of expression and could end up force big corporations to install monitoring and surveillance technology, Reda argued. It could also spell doom for meme culture, according to critics. “Article 13 takes an unprecedented step towards the transformation of the Internet, from an open platform for sharing and innovation, into a tool for the automated surveillance and control of its users,” inventor of the internet Tim Berners-Lee declared in an open letter. Vague Text Many critics of the Directive argue that the vague wording could allow for overreaching new rules that could restrict freedom of speech even further. The Parliament’s answer: the memes will live on. A lot is at stake for European internet users. The rules that govern what is and what isn’t copyright infringement are already hard to discern — and this law could make it even more difficult. READ MORE: Tech Industry and Activists Still Hope to Sink New EU Copyright Rules [Fortune] More on the Copyright Directive: This Newly Approved European Copyright Law Might Break the Internet As a Futurism reader, we invite you join the Singularity Global Community, our parent company’s forum to discuss futuristic science & technology with like-minded people from all over the world. It’s free to join, sign up now!