EU parliament votes for new internet copyright law

A new copyright legislation gained support from EU lawmakers and could force tech giants such as Facebook and Google to payout billions to publishers.

The proposed legislation started two years ago in a move to update digital copyright and try to prevent tech giants making profit from content belonging to artists and publishers.

The amendments was already rejected back in July 2018 by the European parliament since they could potentially limit free speech on the internet and pose a “threat to democracy”.

On Wednesday, however, a total of 438 lawmakers voted for the changes in copyright to be adopted against 226 who opposed and 39 abstentions.

The amendments still have to get a final approvement from the European Commission and EU member states, although now a defeat is unlikely.

Article 11, which has been called “link tax” by critics, will force news search sites such as Google and Facebook to pay publishers for showing news pieces or linking to news stories on other sites.

Article 13 will force platforms such as YouTube to seek licences for content including music videos so artists can better negotiate royalties.

Although, in an attempt to encourage start-ups and innovation, the text now exempts small and micro platforms from the directive.

Internet users and critics are worried that now anything they publish would need to be approved by the new filters, so perfectly legal content such as parodies and memes could be caught in the crosshairs.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, has campaigned against the new law.

"People want access to quality news and creative content online," Google said in a statement after the vote. "We've always said that more innovation and collaboration are the best way to achieve a sustainable future for the European news and creative sectors."