Greens/EFA group proposes alternative amendments to 'copyright' directive a day before committee vote

The shadow rapporteur on the “copyright” directive, Julia Reda (Greens/EFA, Germany), presented her proposed amendments to the directive during a press briefing on Tuesday 19 June.  She will present these proposals as an alternative to those of the rapporteur, Axel Voss (EPP, Germany), on 20 June, during the meeting of Parliament's judicial affairs committee (JURI).

The proposal from Ms Reda on article 11 provides publishers with the right to grant licences and ensure respect for copyright when publishing articles. On the other hand, the users that link these articles with small bits and sentences where there are no original sources will not be subject to the requirement to obtain a license.

The proposal from the shadow rapporteur on the value gap (article 13) targets the platforms that treat the authors unfairly. Only platforms that actively intervene in content downloaded by users which is analysed with the aim of making financial gain, such as YouTube, will be obliged to obtain these licenses.

Reda pointed out that these proposals that she will be defending at the JURI committee come from MEPs from the EPP group of which the rapporteur, Axel Voss, is a member. In relation to neighbouring law, the idea comes from former rapporteur, Therese Comodini Cachia (Malta, EPP), whereas the amendment to article 13 has already been proposed and unanimously approved by the internal market committee (IMCO) in Parliament by Michał Boni MEP (Poland, EPP).

Reda is expecting a majority to vote in favour of the proposal by Mr Voss for article 13 (see EUROPE 12037). The vote on article 11 is not as clear, given that the ECR group is against the proposal from the rapporteur, but will probably be in favour. Ms Reda confirmed that “If the JURI committee approves this proposals tomorrow 10% of the members of the parliament are able to request a vote in the plenary, and they will”. The plenary vote may change the situation, given the internal debates in some of the Parliamentary groups.  (Original version in French by Carmen García, trainee).