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Remember the controversial Article 13 Bill that was making the rounds on the news last year? The bill in question was also called the “Meme Ban’ Bill by many. This bill suggested the implementation of a new copyright law within the European Union that would require “all content uploaded to the internet to be monitored and potentially deleted if a likeness to existing copyright is protected.”
Campaigners protested against Article 13, stating that the new law would “destroy the internet as we know it.” However, yesterday it seems like their campaigning was unsuccessful as the European Parliament approved Article 13.
The Approval of Article 13
The Copyright Directive gathered 348 votes in favor of the bill and 274 against it in the European Parliament. There was a last-second vote to eliminate Article 13 (Now called Article 17). However, this was rejected by only five votes.
The two most controversial Articles that are part of the Copyright Directive are Article 11 and Article 13 (Now called Article 17). Article 11 is called the ‘link tax’ while Article 13 (Now called Article 17) is the ‘upload filter.’
A Member of Parliament, Julia Reda, who has also been a fierce vocal opponent of the Copyright Directive stated that small publishers could lose out due to the passing of the Copyright Directive. She also went on to say that today is a “dark day for internet freedom.” While the vice president of the European Commission stated that the new law would help in unifying Europe’s digital market while also protecting “online creativity.”
This law only affects members of the European Union, but as we’ve learned from history, European laws can influence US policy and ultimately policies of various countries all over the world. European member states have two years to put the new copyrights into effect. You can read more regarding the new bill here.
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Editors’ Recommendations:
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- After a $5 billion fine, Google is changing how licensing will work for its apps in Europe
- How Paris is fighting to become the leader of technology innovation in Europe
- Major US sites are going dark in Europe due to updated regulations from the EU
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