Class 99 readers may be interested in the latest developments relating to the proposed EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market:

On 12 September, the European Parliament backed a revised version of new copyright rules by 438 votes to 226, with 39 abstentions. Parliament will now hold negotiations with the Council, with the aim of approving a final text – probably early next year.

The revised text of the Directive, as passed, is available here.

The Directive had been rejected by Parliament in July 2018. Following that rejection, MEPs proposed changes to the controversial Articles 11 and 13.

Article 11 concerns remuneration for publishers of press publications when their content is used by ISPs. Under the revised proposals, small and micro platforms will be excluded from the scope of the Directive, and hyperlinks accompanied by individual words are also excluded. In addition, member states are to ensure that authors receive “an appropriate share” of the revenue received by publishers.

Article 13 concerns the responsibility of online service providers to ensure that unauthorised copyright-protected works or other subject matter are not available on their services. Service providers must put in place effective and expeditious complaints and redress mechanisms.

A number of other changes were also made to the text.

The MARQUES Copyright Team published a Review of the EU Copyright Legislative Package in November last year. The Team will provide further analysis in due course.

More information is also available the European Parliament, MEP Julia Reda and the news website The Verge, among other sources.