The Weekly Raid: What Are Your Thoughts On The EU's New Copyright Directive?

The last time we discussed the EU, the GDPR, a sweeping data privacy bill had just come in force. Starting on May 25, 2018 all companies serving the EU region had to offer s a simple way to view what personal data was being stored on them and an easy way to opt out of said data collection. The burden of complying with this law was cited by several MMOs as the prime reason they shut down.

Now the EU is back in the news with an even more far reaching piece of legislation. Last month the EU Legislative Committee voted to adopt the new EU Copyright Directive. This legislation represents the first update of the EU's copyright laws since 2001. Among the most concerning parts of the new bill is Article 13. Put plainly, article 13 would upend the 'safe harbor' concept that internet companies have thus far been operating under. Websites and services today are generally not held responsible for copyright infringing content that was ed by their s, so long as they take steps to remove the content once notified by the legitimate owners.

Article 13 would force all large companies to build a system similar to the one Youtube already employs to flag copyright content.

Another part of the Directive, Article 11, would force online platforms like Google or Facebook to pay a license when they link out to news publishers. This article would directly impact sites like ours which may have to pay when we link to other interesting reads and sources.

There's much more to the story, and we'll likely revisit the topic in the weeks ahead. A large grassroots movement is currently trying to overturn the Directive, check out the links below to get involved. Let us know what you think of the EU's new push to restructure the internet!

Further Reading: Gizmodo article, #SaveYourInternet