That's it, it's adopted: on Tuesday, 26 March, the European Parliament made the final step towards the adoption of copyright reform in the EU. It supported, by 348 votes to 274 with 36 abstentions, the provisional agreement previously reached with the representatives of the Council of the EU and the Commission.
The EPP and S&D groups voted by a majority in favour of the agreement, while the ECR, Greens/EFA, GUE-NGL and EFDD largely voted against. Despite an indication of a positive vote, ALDE voted in a scattered order.
Two measures in particular heightened tensions: the creation of a new right for newspaper publishers and the introduction of new obligations for content sharing platforms.
As in the debate on the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, which was finally rejected in 2012, critics accused the text in particular of leading to censorship on the internet. “The problem with download filters is that they are not able to distinguish between legal users under copyright exceptions such as parody or quotation, and actual copyright infringements”, explained MEP Julia Reda (Greens/EFA, Germany), a strong opponent of the reform.
“The internet would only be censored if artists were prevented from earning a living”, replied Pavel Svoboda (EPP, Czech Republic), Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs.
What exactly is planned?
The text reinforces the obligations of content sharing platforms, such as YouTube or Facebook. It lays down the general principle that these actors should no longer be considered as mere hosts, but should now be held responsible for the content uploaded by their users. A change of principle that opens the way to legal action. To avoid such legal proceedings, the text instructs platforms to obtain the authorisation of the holders having the rights and, if they fail to do so, to remove the content and prevent its reappearance. It provides exceptions for certain platforms, such as Wikipedia, or certain content, such as ‘memes’, considered as parodies.
The provisional agreement also provides new protection for newspaper publishers who wish to monetise the use of their online content. This new two-year right is intended to allow newspaper publishers (news publishers or news agencies) to be paid when their content is published on Google News or Facebook.
Implementation of the project
Member States must now formally reconfirm the agreement, after which they will have 2 years to implement it. Given the significant citizen mobilisation in Germany, it seems that the government is currently considering “technological alternatives” to screening measures (to which the minister of justice is reportedly openly opposed). However, for Axel Voss (EPP, Germany), it is unlikely that Germany will change its position. “They said they would support the text; so I can't imagine them turning around completely”. In the EU Council, Italy, Poland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland voted against the text, while Belgium and Slovenia abstained.
Reactions
Not surprisingly, cultural and creative industries, collective work management bodies and press publishers welcomed the outcome of the vote, which strengthens the position of creators.
Digital rights associations, consumer organisations and the platforms themselves have regretted the choice of MEPs, who, according to the EDRi, favour large platforms over small independent authors.
The organisation representing proprietary software, BSA, welcomed the mandatory exception for text and data mining, which opens the way to artificial intelligence.
The other part to be voted on the next day
It should be noted that MEPs will vote on Wednesday, 27 March on another aspect of the reform, the Cable and Satellite Directive. This text aims to promote the cross-border provision of ancillary online services and to facilitate the cross-border digital retransmission of television and radio broadcasts (see EUROPE 12159/4). In particular, it allows broadcasters to broadcast, throughout the EU and by paying fees only in their country of origin, information and news programmes as well as fully self-financed own productions.
Copyright Directive: https://bit.ly/2HHmOTs & SatCab Directive: https://bit.ly/2JGvz28. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)