The European Commission has published guidelines for countries implementing the EU's new Copyright Directive. The guidance covers the controversial article 17 that requires internet platforms to take action to ensure copyrighted material is protected. The announcement comes as the two-year deadline for implementing the directive in national law expires on 07 June and few countries have transposed the directive into national law.
The directive took effect in 2019 following approval from EU institutions and over two years of debate. It's designed to bring copyright law into the internet age, with notable provisions such as increased liability for internet platforms accepting user-generated content (previously known as article 13 and now article 17 of the directive) and new neighbouring rights for publishers whose content is aggregated by other web platforms (previously article 11, now article 15).
The controversial aspects of the law have contributed to only a handful of the EU members have implemented even part of the legislation by the two-year deadline. This also prompted the Commission to consult with stakeholders on the language of the legislation and how to implement it in local laws and practices. The resulting guidance on article 17 aims to support a coherent application across the EU states and help guide internet platforms in their negotiations with rights holders to ensure compliance.
The new directive requires large internet platforms to obtain blanket licences for popular music and videos that may be distributed online. If they detect that users have uploaded other protected content, they must make a 'best effort' to obtain authorisation from the copyright holder or remove that illegal content. Smaller platforms, with less than 5 million monthly users, will face a lighter burden of proof to show they made a best effort.
TV across the EU
At the same time, the new Directive on television and radio programmes takes effect in the EU. A first step towards pan-European copyright, the directive makes it easier for broadcasters to make certain programmes available on their live TV or catch-up services in all EU states, while ensuring that creators are adequately paid for the use of their content. It also simplifies the distribution of more radio and TV channels by retransmission operators.
