The EU already marks the step to the technological ones

The EU already marks the step to the technological ones

After months of negotiations and overcoming the pressure of giants like Google, unlock the 'copyright' directive that protects creators for final approval before May

   The last key meeting to unlock the so-called 'copyright' directive , which will grant creators (journalists, filmmakers, producers, writers or musicians) the right to be remunerated when their works transit through cyberspace, should barely last four hours on last Wednesday. It ended up dilating more than thirteen. It was the last of the obvious examples of pressure, misunderstandings and, ultimately, the tremendous difficulty, which has been facing this road map to regulate the use of content in the digital environment , a pioneer in the world.

   Already at the end of January it seemed to enter a dead end due to the lack of understanding in the three-party negotiation (Parliament-European Commission and Council of the EU). The triangle phase (as those contacts are called) is the one that has now come to an end. But the activation still requires that the final text obtain the endorsement of the European Parliament and, ultimately, of the Veintachos. To achieve this, the most complex directive that the European Union has faced, the one that has suffered most from the activity of the 'lobbys' (avalanche of emails, telephone calls, hundreds of meetings, campaigns on social networks and even threats) it would become one of the star measures with which the legislature closes.

   After last September, the European Parliament opened the traffic light to the final wording of the legal text (of the 703 MEPs at the Strasbourg session, 438 voted in favor, 226 voted against and 39 opted to abstain), the controversy He has continued to pilot the same articles, 11 and 13. The first is that it makes it possible for media editors to require "fair and proportionate" compensations to platforms and news aggregators. In recent months, the editorial work has been further refined by insisting that the private digital use of these press articles is not subject to compulsory payment, as is their educational or scientific orientation.

At this point , legal coverage is given , for example, to teaching centers that conduct searches and gather data. And it also specifies that contributions to online encyclopedias without commercial purposes, such as Wikipedia, or to open source software platforms, such as GitHub, are exempt.

On the other hand, when what is pursued is commercial use , things change. At this point, the directive obliges formally submit a prior request to press publishing companies for a license. And these permits, which will generate extraordinary income to publishers, will only give right to the use of reliable extracts and a certain extension by digital platforms such as Google News. It will be allowed to keep appearing a "review" in this medium and even that it is shared on Facebook, for example, but it will be that, a simple review that will link to the web matrix.

"Because the ultimate goal is that those truly interested in reading an article, access the original page of the press editorial. Thus, a better balance is achieved between those who create something and those responsible who expect a fair remuneration, "said Axel Voss , the deputy of the Group of the European People's Party, who" opened "this legal umbrella. Voss has also insisted that journalists receive a share of the additional income from this formula and has called on the editors to negotiate more advantageous remuneration agreements and to "make an appropriate and intelligent use of these rights".

Article 13 also puts in the spotlight giants like Facebook and, again, Google, although in this case for being the owner of the Youtube video platform. The approved text maintains the same essence: to force these colossi to reach commitments with the creators and, failing that, to activate a tracking system using algorithms that raise the alarm when they try to skip copyright.

In relation to this article -which was the one that substantially led to the deadline of the conversations in January- the first thing that stands out today is that a private person who hangs content on a platform will not be considered responsible for skipping the 'copyright'. The weight will be charged to the Internet giants. And that term 'giants', is not casual. The EU insists that regulation is aimed at controlling the activity of those companies that mobilize a large volume of protected content and that, in addition, have important benefits for this.

At this point, the German politician stresses that the "younger and more recent" platforms are being held accountable so that they can take hold in the market. A point required by countries such as Germany or France. And what are the criteria to identify them?Two ceilings are established: companies should have a turnover of no more than ten million euros and not exceed five million users per month. A period of moratorium is fixed, so to speak, of three years. "We managed to adequately reflect the developments of the digital market, in addition we give the user the possibility of asserting creative works. They are given the possibility to load the content and the platforms are obliged to allow it ", insists from the community legislature.

"We have reached an agreement that protects the lives of people, safeguarding democracy by defending a diverse media landscape, reinforcing freedom of expression and fostering the creation of companies and technological development," Axel Voos underlined. A criterion that has been insistently questioned by Google.

In various communications to its clients it has been underlining that, although "we know that legislation must be updated and adapted to the Internet era, the proposed European copyright directive may have unintended consequences that could limit the diversity of information in the Web »insisting that services such as YouTube and the Mountain View company's own search engine" would force to limit the variety of content they offer ".