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German non-paper proposes mitigating provisions for article 13

 

11 January 2019

A German non-paper proposing new exceptions to article 13 has been released by Politico, including exceptions from the provisions of article where:

  • the platform is a small business (<20 million euro turnover per year);
  • platforms have made “best efforts” to obtain authorization from rightsholders; and
  • the content is user-generated (UGC), but only where fair remuneration has been made to rightsholders.

Communia highlights that attempts to introduce a UGC exception, whilst laudable, are flawed by the requirement of “fair remuneration” for uses such as criticism, or parody (uses of which they claim are based on “fundamental freedoms”). Also worth noting is an earlier non-paper drafted by the Commission (and made available via TechDirt) which was received with controversy as new notice-and-staydown provisions were proposed (on top of filtering requirements).

Elsewhere on the subject of article 13, popular YouTuber PewDiePie has joined similar earlier calls denouncing the proposed article (and supporting the #SaveYourInternet petition). In later developments, their views were endorsed by right-wing party UKIP, though this should be read in conjunction with the party’s more general stance of anti-EU interference sentiment. The virality of these influencers has seen one video by Felipe Neto reach almost 5 million views.

A thorough synopsis of the recently agreed provisions (per the latest trilogue negotiations) of article 13 is available via Julia Reda.