EU defies the tech giants, tightens copyright rules
Print Edition
The European Parliament yesterday adopted copyright reforms championed by news publishers and the media business, in defiance of the tech giants that lobbied against it.
Despite an intense debate inside and outside of the Strasbourg chamber, MEPs passed the draft law with 348-274, with 36 abstentions.
European lawmakers were sharply divided, with both sides subjected to some of the most intense rival lobbying the EU has ever seen from tech giants, media firms, content creators and online freedom activists.
The culmination of a process that began in 2016, the revamp to European copyright legislation was seen as urgently needed, not having been updated since 2001, before the birth of YouTube or Facebook.
The reform was loudly backed by media companies and artists, who want to secure revenue from web platforms that allow users to distribute their content.
But it was strongly opposed by Internet freedom activists and by Silicon Valley, especially Google, which makes huge profits from the advertising generated alongside the content it hosts.
After the vote, a Google spokesperson warned that the reform 鈥渨ill still lead to legal uncertainty and will hurt Europe鈥檚 creative and digital economies.鈥
The final days before the vote were marked by marches and media stunts, including tens of thousands of people protesting in Germany on Saturday under the slogan 鈥淪ave the Internet.鈥
There were similar protests in Austria, Poland and Portugal, while major Polish newspapers on Monday printed blank front pages in an appeal that MEPs adopt the reform.
鈥淚 know there are lots of fears about what users can do or not 颅鈥 now we have clear guarantees for freedom of speech, teaching and online creativity,鈥 European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip said after the vote.
Germany was at the heart of the anti-reform movement, led by Julia Reda, a 32-year-old Pirate Party MEP who spearheaded a campaign against two of the law鈥檚 provisions that have become flashpoints in the debate. The main worry was Article 13, which aims to strengthen the bargaining power of rights holders with platforms which use their content.
The new law for the first holds platforms responsible for enforcing copyright, requiring them to check everything their users post.
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