European copyright reform will become law. The definitive green light has arrived from the European Council, the body that brings together the heads of state and government of the member countries of the European Union, for the directive change the copyright rules.
Today's vote, April 15, was considered a formality afterwards the ok arrived last March 26 from the European Parliament.
Today's vote was only the last necessary step before the copyright law officially takes effect. 19 member states voted in favour, including Germany and France. Against: Italy, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden, Belgium, Estonia and Slovenia abstained.
Germany had its protocol entered into the minutes in which it invites the Commission, responsible for implementation, to avoid upload filters and censorship.
"We have a balanced text that sets a precedent for the rest of the world to follow, putting citizens and creators at the center of the reform and introducing clear rules for online platforms”: said the president of the association of European independent music producers (Impala), Helen Smith, commenting on the . “The EU has proven to be a leader in supporting a fair, open and sustainable internet,” she added.
At this point the text will have to be published in the Official Gazette. Since then, the Member States will have 2 years to transpose the new legislation.
What does the European copyright reform foresee? The Commission directive (0593/2016) updates the Community rules on copyright. To date, the sector is regulated by legislation dating back to 2001 and, given the numerous changes that have taken place over the last 18 years, with this reform the EU has wanted to adapt to the present.
The official objective of the new rules, which have aroused quite a few controversies, is to safeguard "a high level of protection of copyright and related rights", adapting the rules on copyright to a market monopolized by giants international with Google or YouTube who earn thanks to the free use of content produced by third parties who to date do not receive even one euro for them.
When the new regulation will be implemented, Google, Facebook and the other giants will be forced to pay fair compensation to copyright holders on the contents used on the net, while the large online platforms will have to by law automatically filter the material uploaded by users, removing the one protected by copyright.
The reform also directly affects publishers and journalists who will have the possibility of negotiating agreements on their contents included in the news aggregators. Journalists, on the other hand, will be entitled to cash in on a portion of the revenue their publisher has earned thanks to the new copyright rules.
Below, here is a video that summarizes the main innovations of the reform.
