The Copyright Directive closer to approval following the support by the European Parliament

European Union - 09 / 13 / 2018

Intellectual Property Alert 5-2018

The European Parliament has given its support to the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, with 438 votes in favor, 226 against and 39 abstentions. The vote moves one step further in the path to approve a directive that seeks to change the legal framework of copyright on the Internet.

The proposal published by the European Commission in September 2016 has undergone considerable changes after passing through the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament. The most relevant measures are the following:

Approval of a related right for press publishers in the digital environment (art. 11)

This right will allow publishers to obtain remuneration for the use of their contents on the internet. The text voted on by Parliament excludes links [art. 11.2 a)], the legal regime of which is governed by CJEU case law.

New obligations imposed on digital platforms that allow access to contents protected by copyright (art. 13)

If the directive is approved as it currently stands, these platforms will have to execute licenses with rightholders or work with them to prevent access to unauthorized contents.

Given the risk of the directive proving to be a burden for startups, the version approved by the European Parliament exempts small and “micro” companies (as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361) from these obligations.

Parliament, the Counsel and Commission must now meet and come to an agreement on the final text. This “trialogue” will be submitted to the European Parliament for a final vote.