Complete Story
03/12/2019
Understanding the New EU Copyright Regulations
Two portions of the copyright directive have been receiving particular attention
On the heels of last year's passing of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, the European Union has been making some progress on significant copyright reforms, with the goal of putting tougher controls in the hands of creators.
Two portions of the copyright directive have been receiving particular attention:
- Article 11, nicknamed the Link Tax, which would potentially grant publishers copyright over their headlines and news snippets, allowing them to ask for a license fee for the right to use them–a clear shot at the bow of Google News and other link aggregators, such as Reddit. A version of this act already exists in Spain.
- Article 13, nicknamed Meme Ban, would require the use of a filtering tool to prevent the upload and allow for the pre-screening of copyrighted materials. It would specifically target platforms that allow for the upload of user-generated content, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
In September 2018, the two measures passed the European Parliament in a preliminary form and are now going through a negotiation phase.
Search engines and social media platforms are expected to feel the most direct impact if this legislation is implemented. The regulations now specifically exclude many nonprofit and educational services, along with internet service providers (ISPs) and open-source projects.
In other words, the rules intend to target large companies like Google and Facebook. For more information, please visit https://associationsnow.com, and search "European Union."
