Erroneous European Parliament Votes Lock in Passage of Controversial Copyright Rules

In a groundbreaking decision, the EU has voted to enact a new set of highly restrictive copyright laws. The laws, which target copyright infringement online, will require a massive change to the way global corporations interact with states in the union. The issue was highly controversial, with multiple votes being held to decide on how to approach the bill. The initial vote was held on whether to allow the amendment of the bill to remove controversial articles, an initiative which failed to pass by a vote of 317-312. This meant that the bill would need to be approved in its current state. The vote itself has been met with controversy as several members of the European Parliament have stated they accidentally voted incorrectly. Around a dozen members of the parliament admitted to mis-voting, but the decision has been made to keep the vote at 317-312.

The articles that many wished to be amended out of the bill were Articles 11 and 13. Article 11 would require platforms that bring together various news sources to obtain licenses for each linked or quoted material. This would namely hurt corporations and media platforms that work globally, as they will need to filter which content can be made available to those in the European Union. Article 13 of the bill is perhaps the most controversial, banning the use of copyright images on social media platforms without licensing agreements in place. This can particularly hurt large user-based platforms, where millions of people can upload content daily. This will completely change the way these platforms are policed in Europe, making these organizations liable for copyright infringement carried out by their users. Many large social media influencers and video makers have expressed their views on the articles. Protesting what they feel are unfair limits on what they can release, many say it will hurt the creative prospects and opportunities for many in Europe.

While there was no guarantee these articles would have been removed given the opportunity, the voting errors on the initial ballot ensured that the articles will pass into law. The adoption of these laws means that the European Union is adopting some of the most stringent copyright laws on the planet, creating a huge issue for tech companies across the globe. Many people in the EU have voiced their disagreement with the articles of the bill in recent months, with this being one of the most controversial issues in the union in 2019 so far.