Article 13 which covers new copyright laws have been voted in by the European Parliament. Critics say Article 13 could change the internet forever since it puts a far greater onus on major tech platforms to stop copyrighted material from being illegally uploaded to their platforms.
The Copyright Directive, which was backed by 348 MEPs with 274 against, is the first major update to copyright law in the European Union since 2001. While the Copyright Directive is meant to empower creatives and news publishers, the rules are seen by many as over the top and a threat to freedom of expression. The directive has been debated since the EU first voted on it in 2016, and while the rules are now final, it’s likely the debate will continue as the directive is handed down to member states.
Sites warn EU users of how bad article 13 will be
The proposal was opposed by tech companies, which warned them to build expensive content filters and to stop linking to publications. Internet activists did argure over the point that these changes would lead to censorship. On the other side of the two-year battle were record labels, artists and media companies. They said reforms were needed to update copyright protections for the internet age and to ensure they’re fairly paid for their content.
The Copyright Directive makes internet platforms liable for content uploaded to their sites. Companies like Facebook, YouTube and Google will be responsible for checking all uploaded content for copyrighted material, per Article 13 (renamed Article 17).
How this will impact the world and India?:
Since this is an EU law, its impact are territorially limited to the EU, and its main impact will be for the provision of access to such content, by service providers, within the EU. India and other countries, however, will not be completely immune from its effects, since the global nature of the internet means that many in these countries will have a European base, which they cannot afford to lose. The tech companies may thus need to differentiate between content that can be accessed from the EU and content accessed from elsewhere.
