• Copyright, what changes with the new directive

  • Wikipedia obscures Italian page against the EU copyright reform

  • Vito Crimi: the European copyright law is wrong, Italy will vote against

  • EU copyright, another step towards reform

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March 26, 2019

The European Parliament approved the new copyright rules. The go-ahead from the Strasbourg Chamber to the provisional agreement reached in February on the new rules on the respect of copyright on the internet passed with 348 yes, 274 no and 36 abstentions. The new EU copyright rules, which include safeguards to freedom of expression, will allow news creators and publishers to negotiate with the web giants to pay fees for the use of copyrighted content.  



"The copyright directive has been approved. We defend Italian and European creativity and jobs", Antonio Tajani, president of the EU parliament, wrote on Twitter after the vote of the Strasbourg assembly 


#Copyright directive approved.

We defend Italian 🇮🇹 and European 🇪🇺 creativity and jobs.

#CopyrightDirective # direttivacopyright # copyright

- Antonio Tajani (@Antonio_Tajani) March 26, 2019



Ansip: clear rules equal for everyone

the positive vote on the copyright reform "is a great step forward" that comes with "clear guarantees for freedom of expression", said the vice president of the EU Commission for the digital market and responsible for the dossier, Andrus Ansip, explaining that the reform " it eliminates the fragmentation of "rules between 28 and equips" for the first time "Europe with" clear common rules ", which also include cultural heritage and data mining. "I know there are many concerns about what users can and cannot do", but with the new rules, Ansip assured, "we have clear guarantees for the freedom of expression, teaching and creativity online" that "Member States must use. fully "in national legislation.



"The new directive will make it possible to adapt copyright to the 21st century", said the EU Commissioner for digital, Marya Gabriel, one of the great supporters of the reform being examined by the plenary in Strasbourg. 



The directive with the copyright reform, which takes into account the changes that have taken place since the advent of digital, has split the European Parliament: on the one hand the supporters of the world of authors and publishers, who defend the rights of those who produce works of art and information, with powerful trade associations of authors, editors behind it; on the other hand, those who, in defense of citizens' freedom of expression, have been accused of defending the interests of great technological giants, which allow the publication of content without paying fair compensation.



Historical rating

"A historic vote for Europe", argues the president of the editors of European newspapers Enpa, Carlo Perrone, while protesting Wikipedia which obscures the Italian page in view of the decision of the European Parliament. "A beautiful page and a great day for culture and Europe", is the first comment of the president of the Italian Publishers Association (AIE), Ricardo Franco Levi, after the approval of the copyright directive in Strasbourg.



Google: directive impacts on the digital economy

"The copyright directive has improved [compared to the original text, ed], but it will still lead to legal uncertainty and impact Europe's creative and digital economies. The details matter and we look forward to working with politicians, publishers, creators and owners. rights while EU member states move to implement these new rules ": this is Google's comment following the approval by the European Parliament of the copyright reform.



Voss' reasons

"Google, Facebook and Youtube spread disinformation and demonstrate how simple it is to exploit especially young people", said the rapporteur of the measure, the popular German Axel Voss, shortly before the European Parliament's vote on the directive, asking for new measures to be adopted "against these platforms". At the end of the debate in the plenary Voss responded to the criticisms of some MEPs: "There is no censorship with this reform. With this reform, freedom of expression is not limited. With this reform we create legal certainty for of copyrighted works and create new possibilities for users and citizens, "he said.



Politicians divided

Here's how the MEPs voted: the link was posted on Twitter by Julia Reda, of the European Pirate Party (Ppeu): 


Here's the raw data which MEPs voted to allow / disallow amendments and to adopt / reject the Copyright Directive: https://t.co/SKJD9NKPKg (visualisations to follow) #SaveYourInternet

- Julia Reda (@Senficon) March 26, 2019



The vote of the Italians

The delegations of the 5 Star Movement and of the Lega in the European Parliament voted together against the directive on copyright in the digital single market. The large majority of the European deputies of the Democratic Party voted in favor of the directive, together with the entire Forza Italia delegation, but three MPs of the Democratic Party - Brando Benifei, Renata Briano and Daniele Viotti - voted against the text. In the group of Socialists & Democrats, Eli Schlein of Possibile and Sergio Cofferati of the Italian Left also voted negative. Also opposed to the directive are Barbara Spinelli and Eleonora Forenza of the far-left group of the GUE, as well as the two former deputies elected to the M5S Marco Affronte (passed to the Greens) and David Borrelli (not members). On the other hand, another former member of the M5S, Giulia Moi, abstained. In the end,the Italian deputies of the group of European Conservatives and Reformers Raffaele Fitto, Innocenzo Leontini and Remo Sernagiotto voted in favor.



Hit the giants

The directive aims to subject internet giants (with particular reference to Youtube, Facebook, Google) to the payment of royalties for content, especially videos and music, but also news articles, disseminated on their platforms. Platforms that, on the other hand, claim that they are not content distributors, but only intermediaries that host the exchange of content between users. After three years of negotiations and twists and battles to the sound of amendments, opposing governments, and split MEP groups, divisions remain very strong, even in Italy, where the yellow-green government and the two parties that support it in Strasbourg are opposed to the new legislation. .





Protest Wikipedia

On the eve of the vote, the Italian Wikipedia page decided on a self-darkening of protest until 8 am on voting day, after the same initiative was taken on March 21 for the online versions in German, Slovak, Danish and Czech. . Although the directive expressly provides for an exception for sites like Wikipedia, it is fighting for the internet to remain a space for freedom of expression. 



Freedom of fragments

No longer entire press articles, but fragments of articles and news items will be able to continue to be shared freely, but provisions are foreseen in the directive to prevent news aggregators from abusing this possibility. And there is the 'save meme' rule: uploading and sharing protected works for the purpose of citation, criticism, revision, caricature, parody or "pastiche" will always be possible and shareable on online platforms.