Disappointing result in the EU Parliament

The EU Parliament voted today against a committee proposal for a new copyright directive. This means a new vote in parliament in September. – We are disappointed with today's result, but the battle is far from lost, says Cato Strøm, CEO of TONO.

– The existing text that was voted on today would have required the companies behind the large, user-generated platforms to enter into licensing agreements with rights holders, implement tools to safeguard copyright, and share revenues with the creators behind the content that generates value for the services. We are disappointed with today's result, because if it had been adopted, the gross imbalance in the digital market would have been largely resolved once and for all, says Cato Strøm.

– Although the result is disappointing, this gives creative and artistic Europe new opportunities to create understanding for the necessity of updating copyright for the 21st century, and to refute the erroneous representations that have come from copyright opponents and tech companies in recent weeks. They have called Article 13 an attack on freedom of expression, censorship and a threat to the internet as we know it, which is far from the truth. No one is more concerned with freedom of expression than authors, who base their entire profession on it. This is about establishing arrangements that will mean that authors' copyright is also respected by big tech companies and that authors will be paid a fair share of the financial results their music creates for the companies behind the user-generated services, he says.

Following today's results, work on copyright reform will continue until the new vote in September.

– Today's vote may indicate that many members of parliament did not feel ready to vote on this fundamentally important issue. We now look forward to the discussion in parliament in September, and expect that a majority of parliament will then see the necessity of drafting a directive that will create a fair internet economy for creators, says Strøm.

See press release from the EU Parliament:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20180628IPR06809/parliament-to-review-copyright-rules-in-september