On March 26, the European Parliament approved a new directive on Copyright (DDA), with 348 votes in favor and 274 votes against, and 36 abstentions. This legislative process had started in 2016 and since 2001 there were no changes to the current legislation.
In the information provided by the European Parliament on the new DDA, it is clarified that it will cover: “Internet users, artists, journalists and press, film and music producers, online services, libraries, researchers, museums and universities, among many others ”.
And which aims to determine fairer rules, such as: “a new right for the remuneration of press editors for the use of newspapers and magazines by online service providers; new rules that will strengthen the position of rights holders, such as music and film producers, as well as collective management societies acting on their behalf, to negotiate and be remunerated for the online exploitation of their content by platforms of content uploaded by users; and new rules that ensure fair remuneration for individual authors, such as writers, journalists, musicians and actors.”
Other advantages associated with the new directive are also advocated: greater cross-border and online access to content protected by copyright for citizens, including audiovisual works on video-on-demand platforms; easier digitization and dissemination of works; copies of works of art in the public domain made available freely and with legal certainty; greater opportunities for using copyright-protected content in the fields of teaching, research and conservation of cultural heritage; and further improvement in data economy and a progressive development of data analytics and artificial intelligence in Europe.
However, and even with all the clarifications made available, this new directive is being the target of great criticism by Wikipedia, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Youtube, among others. The same DDA received massive support from artists, nationally and internationally.
But where does the main controversy lie?
Articles 15 on the protection of press publications, with regard to online uses, and Article 17, with regard to the use of content protected by online content sharing service providers, are the source of contention.
It is on these two issues that the “technological giants” raise obstacles, as they will have to pay royalties to artists, journalists and authors of the texts, images and music they were sharing.
The platforms will have to include a copyright management system, which will select content subject to copyright, making it impossible to abuse its use. There is room for new agreements and negotiations.
Individual users are safeguarded and the European Parliament's own note states that use for research and study purposes will also continue to be ensured.
The world has changed and digital information has been in need of proper treatment for some time. See what the data provided by the European Parliament tell us: 72% of internet users use and read news online; 56% of internet users listen to music online; 66% watch commercial or shared services videos online; 42% watch TV broadcast over the internet (live or recorded) from TV stations.
The text was submitted for approval by the Council of the EU and, after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, each Member State will have 2 years to integrate the respective amendments into its national legislation.
The text of the law may make all the difference, which, in national legislation, will incorporate the spirit that underpinned the reform of copyright law, and for this wording, the greatest specialized attention must be given.
Thus, we hope for a rigorous work by our specialists and jurists, which reveals an interpretation that effectively defends the rights of authors and citizens, and which fully respects individual and collective freedom of expression.
It is not about censorship, but about finding an adequate response to the evolution of digital information media and fair retribution to all authors who make their work available there.
Author: Alexandra R. Goncalves
Adjunct Professor at ESGHT/University of Algarve and Integrated Researcher at CIEO
For more information, see:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/pt/press-room/20190111IPR23225/perguntas-e-respostas-sobre-a-diretiva-relativa-aos-direitos-de-autor
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