Europe Institutes New Proposal to Protect Artists’ Rights Against Giants like Google’s YouTube and Dailymotion

In a significant push towards protecting the rights of artists, the European Commission, the executive body responsible for proposing legislation in the European Union (EU), has proposed a new copyright law. This move is seen by observers as Europe taking on another American tech giant, following recent rulings on digital copyright infringement.

This proposed law is targeted at platforms like YouTube and the French video-sharing platform Dailymotion and is designed to ensure that artists are adequately compensated for their creative works. This proposition comes weeks after a landmark ruling in Europe, which established that linking to a site with copyright violating content is tantamount to infringement on the part of the site that includes the hyperlink. This earlier ruling already posed a challenge, but the intent now seems to intensify efforts to protect intellectual property rights.

In essence, the proposed law makes it easier for artists to demand compensation, offering them a platform to negotiate fees with video streaming and sharing platforms that they believe have not provided them with equitable remuneration.

This proposal forces platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and Dailymotion to make the hard decision of routinely cleaning up their content to prevent potential copyright violations.

The law has been positively received by content creators and their representative bodies. Frances Moore, the Chief Executive of IFPI (an international body representing approximately 1,300 record companies) lauded the new proposal. According to Moore, it was a positive step as it ensures that large content sharing services like YouTube cannot operate outside normal licensing rules.

Google’s Global Policy Vice President, Caroline Atkinson, however, expressed disappointment with the new proposal. She stated that it represented a backward step for copyright in Europe and would disadvantage anyone who writes, reads, or shares news. According to Atkinson, a similar proposition had failed in Germany and Spain, and she predicted a similar fate for the EU regulation.

Proponents of the new proposals argue that it will rein in tech giants, forcing them to pay for using artists’ content. This comes as media companies, journalists, and researchers allege that sites like Google and Facebook have contributed significantly to their loss in revenue over the years, due to their handling of pirated content.

The new proposed regulation will need approval from the European Parliament and council of ministers before it can take effect. Given the typically slow pace of legislation, major tech giants could still have time to argue against the proposed law.

Included below are the details of the proposed legislation. Feel free to peruse it and share your thoughts.

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