Global Media Law or Ethics

Europe's New Copyright Laws

Europe will be passing new laws in the near future that will impact the users of YouTube and Facebook. These new rules will help determine the use of content that is shared throughout the sites. Proposed over two years ago, the new laws had taken that long to be passed and were approved through English Parliament only a month ago. They require that host user-uploaded content to cut licensing deals with creators so they are paid when people share their content online. 

According to Recode, The law would apply to music and film producers, but also to newspapers and magazines, according to the European Commission’s FAQ page. The move is meant to hold tech platforms accountable for the content its users share, and to try to return some of the billions of dollars in revenue that Facebook and YouTube make each year to the people who actually create the content that appears on those sites. 

Some things are still unclear, however, such as how the law will be implemented and what the companies involved will need to do put these laws into action. YouTube, for example, already uses an  which attempts to avoid any copyrighted materials being stolen and used. Facebook offers something similar called Rights Manager.  

The EU wants to use a similar technology throughout various countries in an attempt to make sure copyrighted materials are not stolen throughout Europe. However, the European Commission FAQ page has stated that it will not be using any matching filters that are used in other algorithms in the new one created by the new laws.

Facebook and Google are not pleased with the proposed rules. For starters, each European Union member country will implement the rule in its own way, which could mean tech companies need to abide by a different set of guidelines in each country.

Then there is concern that while trying to comply, tech companies will take a heavy hand with moderating what is allowed and what isn’t. Google’s senior VP of global affairs Kent Walker wrote a blog post published last month titled EU Copyright Directive: one step forward, two steps back. 

In a statement from one of the association’s policy managers, the CCIA echoed Walker’s concerns. “Despite recent improvements, the EU Directive falls short of creating a balanced and modern framework for copyright,” the statement reads. “We fear it will harm online innovation and restrict online freedoms in Europe.”

While Monday’s approval by the European Commission has brought the copyright rules back to the surface, they may not affect consumers for a while. Each EU member country has 24 months to create laws that enforce the rules.