EU approves Article 13 copyright law
The European Union has approved the controversial Article 13 copyright law, much to the chagrin of its citizens and lawmakers.
A controversial new law bringing stark reforms to copyrighted content posted online was approved by the European Parliament on Tuesday.
The legislation was adopted with 348 votes in favor and 274 against, and massive internet backlash following the decision. European Parliament member Julia Rea called the vote a "dark day for internet freedom" on Twitter, as the bill has been a frustrating and divisive one for politicians and those who use the internet regularly.
The EU Copyright Directive's Article 13 is meant to govern the way individuals upload copyrighted content to the internet. Under the law, platforms like YouTube or Facebook would actually be liable for the content its users upload.
"In a stunning rejection of the will [of] five million online petitioners, and over 100,000 protestors this weekend, the European Parliament has abandoned common-sense and the advice of academics, technologists, and UN human rights experts, and approved the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive in its entirety," the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote in a blog post.
Before the law is officially adopted, the Council of the European Union must approve it. There's a vote scheduled for April 9 that will shed more light on the situation. But despite the fact that this is a directive approved in Europe, it could still have chilling implications for everyone else in the world when it comes to the way platforms handle copyrighted material. We could see sweeping changes coming from larger destinations like YouTube meant to work on a broad scale.
So this isn't a time to turn a blind eye and think "this won't matter to me," as it absolutely does and will. We'll be bringing you additional updates on the situation as they happened, so stay tuned to Shacknews for new developments on the law and everything it might entail.
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replyBrittany Vincent posted a new article, EU approves Article 13 copyright law
