tl;dr: It's high time to get active and rage against the censorship machine! Short presentation on the EU copyright directive and its potential implications for human rights - and the internet as we know it.

1. Rage Against the
Censorship Machine

2. Copyright in the EU – some history
#CensorshipMachine explained
Rage Against the #CensorshipMachine

4. ACTA (Article 27)
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement failed miserably in 2012.
“endeavour to promote
cooperative efforts within
the business community to
effectively address
trademark and copyright or
related rights infringement”

7. Copyright reform – proposal
for a Directive
Article 13: Upload filter
2. 4a. ‘Online content sharing
service’ means a [web] service
one of the main purposes of which
is to store and give access to
the public to copyright protected
works uploaded by its users,
which the service optimises.
Applies to:
→ every platform with an upload form and every app with a “post” button.
→ Not just “copyright infringing works” that are uploaded: basically ALL uploads

8. Article 13: Upload filter
1. Online content sharing service
providers referred to in paragraph – 1
shall, in cooperation with rightholders,
take appropriate and proportionate measures
to ensure the functioning of licensing
agreements where concluded with
rightholders for the use of their works or
other subject-matter on those services.
In the absence of licensing agreements with
rightholders online content sharing service
providers shall take, in cooperation with
rightholders, appropriate and proportionate
measures leading to the non-availability on
those services of works or other subject
matter infringing copyright or related
rights, while non-infringing works and
other subject matter shall remain available

10. Article 13: Upload filter –
ridiculous exceptions
Services acting in a non-commercial
purpose capacity such as online
encyclopaedia, and providers of
online services where the content
is uploaded with the authorisation
of all concerned rightholders, such
as educational or scientific
repositories, should not be
considered online content sharing
service providers within the
meaning of this Directive.
Providers of cloud services for
individual use which do not provide
direct access to the public, open
source software developing platforms,
and online market places whose main
activity is online retail of physical
goods, should not be considered online
content sharing service providers
within the meaning of this Directive.

13. Article 13: Upload filter –
ridiculous exceptions pt II
3. Member States may provide
for exceptions or limitations
to the rights provided for in
Articles 2 and 3 in the
following cases: (k) use for
the purpose of caricature,
parody or pastiche

15. Article 11: “link tax” or “Google tax”
1. Member States shall provide
press publishers with the
[exclusive rights to reproduce
and make available works they
publish] so that they may obtain
fair and proportionate
remuneration for the digital use
of their press publications by
information society service
providers.

16. Article 11: “link tax” or “Google tax”
●
Some MEPs and proponents say that the remuneration is optional, but the article
clearly says that countries are obligated to introduce this new right.
●
Since no other threshold is established in the proposal, it would cover even
shortest snippets and purely factual headlines like “Angela Merkel meets Theresa
May”
●
Links include snippets: links are routinely illustrated with a short extract of the
content they point to – most often the title
→ If Article 11 enters into force, publishers will have an exclusive right to publish
such extracts, and such links. Everyone else will need to negotiate a license with
them.
This “ancillary copyright” mechanism has already failed in
two Member States:
●
Germany
●
Spain

17. Article 11: “link tax” or “Google tax”
Exception:
1a. [This article] shall not prevent
legitimate private and non-commercial
use of press publications by individual
users.
BUT:
Everyone uses commercial platforms (fb,
twitter, etc), people who run their own
infrastructure, or blog, are unfortunately very
rare.

18. Article 11: “link tax” or “Google tax”
Exception:
2a. [This article] shall not extend to
acts of hyperlinking.
BUT:
This exception allows you to publish links like
this one: “Click here to read a BBC article
about this law” but not the title of the article.

19. Les Terms
of Service,
c’est moi
Mandatory upload filter Blocking legal content
Useless redress mechanism
Failed EU-wide “link tax”

22. Votes: 20 June & 5 July

24. Before 12 September
●
Contact your representatives and ensure that
there are amendments calling for the
deletion of Article 13 and that such
amendments are be supported. If good
amendments get adopted, then a better text
can be negotiated in the next stage of the
process.

25. end 2018/early 2019
●
We need to encourage all MEPs to support a good, legally
sound, balanced Copyright Directive, that defends the rights
and freedoms of everybody – and that means a Directive
without a censorship machine – voting against the entire
Directive, if necessary, although we really hope this will not be
necessary.
●
only be a few weeks until the 2019 European Parliament
election. This context will give you more power than normal to
make your voice heard.

29. Belgian MEPs
●
21 MEPs
●
Voted against:
– Gerolf Annemans (Vlamms Belang)
– Mark Demesmaeker (NVA)
– Philippe Lamberts (Ecolo)
– Sander Loones (NVA)
– Bart Staes (Groen)
– Helga Stevens (NVA)
– Anneleen Van Bossuyt (NVA)
– Kathleen Van Bremt (PS. Anders and Vice-Chair S&D
group)
– Hilde Vautmans (Open VLD)
– Lieve Wierinck (Open VLD)
●
???
– Ivo Belet (CD & V)
–
●
Voted in favour:
– Maria Arena (PS)
– Pascal Arimont (Christlich Soziale Partei)
– Hugues Bayet (PS)
– Gérard Deprez (MR)
– Louis Michel (MR)
– Frédérique Ries (MR)
– Marc Tarabella (PS)
– Claude Rolin (CDH)
– Tom Vandenkendelaere (CD & V)
– Guy Verhofstadt (Open VLD)