A controversial proposal to reform the EU’s copyright law was rejected by the European Parliament earlier this month, being returned to the European Commission for further debate until another vote in September.
Known as the EU Copyright Directive, its Article 13 provision would have placed greater responsibility on online internet platforms to monitor copyright infringements on the sites in an attempt to bring the copyright laws into the digital age.
Currently, it is the owners of the piece of intellectual property that must make a claim against any content being used without authorisation.
The Directive, in part, would have required websites themselves to enforce copyright laws, meaning the online platforms would have to assess the copyright potential of all content being uploaded to their websites. Automated copyright systems are the primary way to do this, but such pieces of technology are highly expensive and not wholly reliable, and are therefore difficult for all platforms to necessarily make use of. For example, a primary concern raised about the use of such automatic systems was how they would ultimately distinguish between actual content copyright infringement and the use of such content that might be permitted under ‘fair use’ exemptions.
The initial proposal was greeted with joy particularly by numerous music stars, including Sir Paul McCartney, who argued such platforms exploited the use of their musical content for monetary gain while they were being cheated out of rightful remuneration. On the other hand, opponents argued the rules would stifle internet freedom and creativity, in particular risking the banning of such things as internet memes and song remixes.
The rejection comes at a time when regulation of the internet is arousing increasing concern as its capabilities appear to have outgrown the existing regulation placed upon it. Indeed, it will be interesting to see how the provisions change and what effect this may have on the result of the subsequent vote in September, as this has the potential to represent a watershed moment for the regulation of the internet.
