Tech giants face copyright bill as EU states back crackdown
GOOGLE will have to pay publishers for use of news snippets and Facebook must filter out protected content under new EU copyright rules aimed at ensuring fair compensation for creative industries.
EU governments yesterday backed the move launched by the European Commission two years ago to protect Europe’s creative industries, which employ 11.7 million people in the bloc.
“When it comes to completing Europe’s digital single market, the copyright reform is the missing piece of the puzzle,” the Commission’s president Jean-Claude Juncker said.
Under the new rules, Google and other online platforms will have to sign licensing agreements with musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists to use their work.
The European Parliament gave a green light last month to a proposal that has pitted Europe’s creative industry against tech companies, internet activists and consumer groups.
Wikipedia blacked out several European sites in protest last month, while the change was opposed by Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.
But 19 countries, including France and Germany, endorsed the revamp, while Belgium, Estonia and Slovenia abstained. Under the new regime Google-owned YouTube, Facebook’s Instagram and other sharing platforms will have to install filters to prevent users from uploading copyrighted materials.
Google said the new rules would hurt Europe’s creative and digital economies, while critics said it would hit cash-strapped smaller companies rather than the tech giants.
Poland said the overhaul was a step backwards as the filter requirement may lay the foundation for censorship.
The European Magazine Media Association, the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, the European Publishers Council, News Media Europe and independent music labels lobbying group Impala welcomed the move.
European Union countries have two years to transpose the copyright directive into national laws.
‘When it comes to Europe’s digital single market, copyright reform is the missing piece of the puzzle’