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<\/a><\/div><\/div>Having followed the progress of this legislation over many months we have repeatedly pointed out that two of its clauses – Article 11, the link tax, and Article 13 (renamed Article 17 in the final legislation and a possible cause of confusion) which will almost inevitably lead to upload filters, is likely to have devastating consequences, see\u00a0Final EU Copyright Directive Spells Disaster if you want the details.<\/p>\n\n\n
#SaveYourInternet had waged an effective campaign against Article 13, including a petition which attracted over 5 million signatures and demonstrations in Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Austria and Poland where up to 200,000 people took to the streets in protest.<\/p>\n\n\n
Given this pressure it had been hoped that amendments to delete both\nthe Link Tax and Upload filters would be presented to MEPs but the\nproposal to consider amendments was narrowly defeated by 5 votes\n(317:312 with 24 abstentions). It has subsequently been revealed that a\ntotal of 13 MEPs pressed the wrong button on this vote, including 10 who\n wanted to delete Article 13. While the voting record has been ameded\nthis won’t have any affect on the outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n
Instead of having the chance to adopt amendments to delete Articles 11 and 13, MEPs proceeded immediately to the main vote and passed the legislation by\u00a0348:274 with 36 abstentions. Had it not been for confusion caused by altering the order in which votes were taken (possibly maliciously) the outcome of the main vote would have been rather different as the amended voting record , probably 338:283 with 37 abstentions. More importantly it would without have passed after deleting Article 17,as Article 13 is now referred to. The member states now have to enact the legislation within two years.<\/p>\n\n\n
Axel Voss, the MEP who had spearheaded the copyright reforms, said in a statement:<\/p>
<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n“This directive is an important step towards correcting a situation which has allowed a few companies to earn huge sums of money without properly remunerating the thousands of creatives and journalists whose work they depend on.”<\/em><\/p> Axel Voss<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n
He added that the final text:<\/p>\n\n\n
contains numerous provisions that will guarantee\u00a0\u00a0that will guarantee that the internet remains a space for free expression. The \u2018meme\u2019, the \u2018gif\u2019, the \u2018snippet\u2019 are now protected more than ever before.<\/em><\/p> Axel Voss<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n
As we’ve previously pointed out these concessions are very much open\nto interpretation leading to uncertainly that will undermine the\nInternet. <\/p>\n\n\n
Julia Reda, the MEP prominently opposing Articles 11 and 13 tweeted:<\/p>\n\n\n
“Dark Day for internet freedom”. <\/em><\/p> Julia Reda <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n
She does however hold out one final hope:<\/p>\n\n\n
“The final remaining step is then for the Council to adopt the law as well, which is likely to take place on April\u00a09. However, Germany, whose Minister of Justice has come out in opposition of upload filters, could still retract its support, which would make a majority unlikely and thus also lead to further negotiations after the EU elections in May.”<\/em><\/p> Julia Reda <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n
This has been picked up by Florian Mueller on his Foss Patents site. In a post with the title, Even\n after today’s EU Parliament vote, we can still kill Article 13 through\npressure on German government to prevent formal adoption by EU Council<\/a>,\n Mueller points out that while this would be a first in EU history there\n are some reasons why Germany could be prevailed upon to derail the EU\nCopyright Directive, These included massive street protests, the\nnarrowness of the vote not to consider amendments, particularly in view\nof the wrong button fiasco<\/a>,\n and the fact that it was a Franco-German deal relating to something\nentirely unrelated (friction over a gas pipeline) that meant that\nGermany finally supported Article 13, even though it violated a\ncoalition agreement between Angelika Merkel’s CDU\/CSU party and the SPD.\n In view of the upcoming European Parliament elections, Mueller\nspeculates that the copyright reform bill could destabilize Merkel’s\ncoalition.<\/p>\n\n\n
To go further into this takes us too deeply into politics, but the message is that between now an April 9th it is important not to stop campaigning against Article 13 (or rather Article 17 as it has now become).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
More Information<\/h3>\n\n\n