CONTROVERSIAL changes to online copyright across the EU have been approved by MEPs in a decision designed to make tech giants more responsible for paying creatives, musicians and news outlets more fairly for their work online.
Musicians Sir Paul McCartney and Debbie Harry were among the most vocal supporters of the changes, alongside a number of groups including the European Alliance of News Agencies, which argued the move provides an opportunity to further develop quality news services and enables it to compete more fairly with tech giants.
Supporters in the creative, music and journalism industries have long-argued that the directive will enable content-makers to be fairly paid for their work, while opponents, including the tech giants themselves, fear the changes will have an impact on freedom of speech and expression online.
Julia Reda, a German MEP and vocal opponent of the move, described the decision as a “dark day for internet freedom”.
The changes, which were approved by the European Parliament by 348 votes to 278, include the controversial Article 13, which many believe threatens the creation of online content and memes. However, copyright campaigning Labour London MEP Mary Honeyball said memes will not be killed off by the “divisive” laws. She said the Copyright Directive was the most polarising pieces of legislation she has worked on, but the internet and modern world need regulation.
Honeyball has said fears surrounding the impact of the directive on content creators is “doom-mongering” and that the aim of the legislation was not to stamp out memes but to protect creators.
She said: “There’s no problem with memes at all. This directive was never intended to stop memes and mash-ups. I think that’s doom-mongering. People who carry out their business properly have nothing to worry about at all.”
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson also claimed the legislation was a victory over the tech giants.
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