Article 13 continues to split opinion

Article 13, as the law is popularly called, has attracted negative campaigns, chiefly by YouTube, whose CEO, Susan Wojcicki, told users that the law would impede the creativity and income stream of the online creative community.

“Article 13 as written threatens to shut down the ability of millions of people – from creators like you to everyday users – to upload content to platforms like YouTube,” she said. “It threatens to block users in the EU from viewing content that is already live on the channels of creators everywhere. This includes YouTube’s incredible video library of educational content, such as language classes, physics tutorials and other how-to’s.

“This legislation poses a threat to both your livelihood and your ability to share your voice with the world. And, if implemented as proposed, Article 13 threatens hundreds of thousands of jobs, European creators, businesses, artists and everyone they employ. The proposal could force platforms, like YouTube, to allow only content from a small number of large companies.”

The European Parliament has expressed a different view on the issue of income for creators of content. “The agreed measures enhance rights holders’ chances, notably musicians, performers and script authors, as well as news publishers, to negotiate better remuneration deals for the use of their works featured on Internet platforms,” the body said.

To Europe For Creators, a body that includes the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), YouTube has failed to tell its users the truth about the substance of the law.

“YouTube enabled the propagation of misinformation – such as the claims that Article 13 would lead to the shutting down of YouTube channels, kill European startups, put an end to memes and gifs and harm freedom of speech,” an open letter from Europe For Creators addressed to Wojcicki says. “In other words: change the Internet as we know it. Such scaremongering deliberately ignores the special protections provided in the text and misleads public opinion.”

To balance YouTube’s “considerable influence over 1.8 billion monthly users”, Europe For Creators has requested that the online platform shares messages in favour of Article 13 till 24 March. YouTube is yet to respond.

While some versions of Wikipedia were darkened yesterday in protest against the law, the International Literary and Artistic Association (ALAI) said it “approves, in its entirety, the provisions of Article 13 aimed at ensuring better value sharing as a result of the making available to the public of intellectual works by providers of online content sharing services”.

A note of concern has been sounded by Steffen Holly, head of media and management at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology. The Institute famously developed AudioID technology, which has found application in music libraries around the world.

In a note to both sides, Holly wrote: "Dear Angela Merkel, Axel Voss, dear lobbyists and parliamentarians: Stop hiding behind your empty words for the fairness to authors and artists. Dear media industry: Stop exploiting the independent, creative artists and authors and their precarious and uninformed situation, just to secure your business."