Music rights organizations have a bone to pick with a current song that YouTube is singing.
The video server has been accused of “fact-free fear-mongering” against Article 13 of the Copyright Directive, an EU copyright law amendment which has split the music industry.
Before we move any further- what is Article 13 of this Copyright Directive?
Article 13 is an amendment that has been brought to the EU (European Union) proposing a series of updates to current user laws in Europe, some of which would make YouTube liable for copyright material.
This means an agreement between the site and content producers (such as musicians) would need to be reached before publication.
The article was met with criticism from YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who took to Twitter to decry the proposed changes when they were brought to the European Parliament in September.
Learn more about European copyright rules and how Article 13 could put the creative economy of creators and artists around the world at risk: https://t.co/YJyHaYOGn7
— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 8, 2018
In short, the changes could put users generating remixes, meme’s, opinion pieces & all manner of other content that features third-party material at risk of violating the new laws, should they be passed.
The changes would, however, give further protection to artists who publish their work independently online. Sir Paul McCartney is just one prominent figure in the industry supporting the changes, publishing an open letter to EU MP’s urging them to support the recommended changes.
UK music CEO Michael Dugher has also come out in support of the laws, saying that Google had been “behaving like a corporate vulture feeding off the creators and investors who generate the music content shared by hundreds of millions on YouTube.”
Remixes like Far Out’s take on Daft Punk could be blocked on the server throughout the EU
In a letter opposing the changes, prominent technology figures, including Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, signatories noted that the laws “[takes] an unprecedented step towards the transformation of the internet, from an open platform for sharing and innovation, into a tool for the automated surveillance and control of its users.”
With the laws headed toward implementation, YouTube has upped the volume against the laws, with the head of music Leor Cohen publishing a blog post on Tuesday warning that the site would be forced to block “huge amounts of video.”
“Rather than drive more value to artists, major labels and small, independent artists would get less money and less promotion from open platforms like YouTube,” said Cohen.
Audio learner? Here is the issue broken down
This is just one example of the “fear-mongering” the site has been accused of, with The European Composer and Songwriter Alliance, GESAC, ICMP, IFPI and IMPALA yesterday issuing a joint statement against the site’s message.
“YouTube’s campaign against Article 13 of the Copyright Directive shows a lack of respect for the EU democratic process of lawmaking,” it said, continuing to note that “services are making vast sums of money on creators’ content uploaded by their users, but not paying the right holders who own that content fairly.”
“To correct that situation, platforms like YouTube should have to take responsibility for the content they use and monetise, by fairly remunerating their creators and right holders.”
“YouTube’s eleventh-hour campaign of fact-free fear-mongering should be seen for what it is: an attempt to derail the EU democratic legislative process.”
Put simply, the EU wants YouTube to give users the chance to take some change for the use of their content.
As complicated and convoluted as it may seem, it’s an interesting theatre of debate for the industry to follow, given the increased sharing of information and content in the digitised market.
If you’re in Europe, meme while you still can.
This one’s for you, internet
