The European Parliament has voted to give musicians, filmmakers and publishers the same copyright protection online as they enjoy offline, enabling publishers to charge tech platforms for using their content and leading to potentially large payouts for infringements. The proposal is supported by the European Magazine Media Association, the European Newspaper Publishers' Association, the European Publishers Council and News Media Europe. As Robert Guthrie, partner for international law firm Osborne Clarke, also points out, it is not yet fully clear what the final text of the directive will be, but regular, non-commercial internet users won’t be impacted. However, free-speech supporters, such as Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, claim platforms will over-censor content and add more filters. In a statement on its website, Wikipedia said it was "pleased that MEPs have adopted this important amendment in order to protect free expression online, including against censorship of user-generated content.
The European Parliament has voted to give musicians, filmmakers and publishers the same copyright protection online as they enjoy offline, enabling publishers to charge tech platforms for using their content and leading to potentially large payouts for infringements. The proposal is supported by the European Magazine Media Association, the European Newspaper Publishers' Association, the European Publishers Council and News Media Europe. However, free-speech supporters, such as Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, claim platforms will over-censor content and add more filters. In a statement on its website, Wikipedia said it was "pleased that MEPs have adopted this important amendment in order to protect free expression online, including against censorship of user-generated content.