EU Article 13 Passed

Whilst the news is filled with Brexit, Article 13 and Article 11 has been passed through European Parliament under the spotlight.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/eu-a...ote-article-17
https://www.cnet.com/news/article-13...copyright-law/
https://www.itpro.co.uk/policy-legis...and-article-11

'Article 13 dictates that anyone sharing copyrighted content must get permission from rights owners -- or at least have made the best possible effort to get permission -- before doing so. But this doesn't just mean full songs, movies, TV shows and images. It also means gifs, memes and screenshots.

In order to enforce this, internet platforms will be forced to use upload filters to evaluate anything they put online. Even the wealthiest online services such as Facebook and YouTube, which have spent years developing this technology, haven't been able to prove pre-moderation of content is a foolproof method for preventing content from surfacing online that shouldn't be there.' (CNET, 2019)

Article 11 is more easy to digest than Article 13. Also known as the 'Link Tax', it targets news aggregators such as Google and Apple who each have news services which curate the most important news stories of the day, using AI-driven algorithms. It essentially attempts to help news outlets generate more money for the content they produce.

Rather than isolated to traditional outlets, news is now plastered all over Facebook walls, Twitter feeds and even Instagram accounts. However, it's often the case that users glance at headlines and brief story descriptions to get the jist of a news bulletin, and then move on. With Article 11, companies would be able to charge a tax on Facebook for those missed clicks.

It's possible that users will see less news on social media as it will cost money for it to appear there. Google, Twitter, Facebook and the rest could even start to form their own newsrooms - from curators to creators. (IT Pro, 2019)

What do you think?

dumb question but what would this mean for cosplayers? would our stuff get banned too?

i know its not going to affect AO3 because they already said it wouldnt, so im safe on that count, but...

edit: i dont think itll effect us.

though the whole 'no news' thing feels a little dystopian, maybe its how its worded or that screenshot of what google will supposedly look like.

It is a deeply misguided policy that only benefits copyright holders who already abuse the current systems in place on YouTube.

But what remains to be seen is whether the new policies are actually workable.

Just also need to add this, this is not quite the end of the story. Member states will have to approve the decison after which they have 2 years to Implement.

From the Guardian:

More generally, Berry says, there are several further steps before article 13 becomes law. “It also needs to be approved by the European council. The council’s vote is scheduled for 8 or 15 April. Assuming it passes that stage, the directive will be signed by council and parliament before being published in the EU’s Official Journal, and will enter into force 20 days after that.” Even then, EU member states have a further two years to implement the directive into their own laws, which may mean that the UK is no longer in the EU at that point.

It's a bit like a modern day 1984! haha