At a time when its legitimacy is being questioned by most Europeans, the EU Commission is certainly not making any friends with its
latest version of a 'Copyright Directive' which displays remarkable contempt for the public and the public interest groups
whose objections it supposedly
took into account when redrafting the copyright reform legislation.
Last week a 'final draft' was agreed by both the German and French governments. The main matter of contention was whether to allow an exemption for small businesses under Article 13. France said no; Germany yes. In the end Germany caved and
agreed to amendments which would crush small platforms in favor of US Big Tech. Gee, thanks Merkel.
Incredibly, that was the only point France and Germany had any disagreement over - considering that the rest of Article 13, as well as Article 11, are
draconian and entirely miss the ostensible reason of achieving fair protections and compensation for content-creators of copyrighted works. Although supporters claim that the Directive helps content-creators, it doesn't actually use or define that term. The 'rights holder' tends to be large conglomerates (such as the film or music industries) and content-creators who aren't beholden to these entities will suddenly find themselves unable to make a living.
In any case, while the EU Commission
states that "applying the principles of better regulation will
ensure that measures are evidence-based,
well designed and deliver tangible and sustainable benefits for citizens, business and society as a whole" (p.3), they've obviously decided that this doesn't apply to Articles 11 and 13. Eurocrats did conduct
research on those measures but
cherry-picked only the findings which supported their agenda and ignored
others.
Comment: The US won't rest with just Venezuela: The War on Venezuela is Built on Lies