Article 13, a new copyright law, is one of the most controversial news happening in the EU. This law will force major social media platforms like YouTube to scan through everything that is uploaded to the platform to ensure that nothing includes copyrighted content. The fact that YouTube is opposed to this article of the recent European Copyright Directive, adopted this summer, is no secret.
These proposed copyright changes present a big problem to YouTube, as the company would be obliged to check who the original right holders are and then pay each accordingly. And with more than 400 hours of video content uploaded every minute, that will be a big challenge.
Suzanne Wojcicki, director of YouTube, stated:
The parliament’s approach is unrealistic in many cases because copyright owners often disagree over who owns what rights. If the owners cannot agree, it is impossible to expect the open platforms that host this content to make the correct rights decisions. and the potential liabilities could be so large that no company could take on such a financial risk.
The statement lists the latest projects of the platform, and Article 13’s new regulations would put the entire community at risk. Normal users could be less inclined to upload their own videos, viewers blocked and small creators could be ruined. Ultimately, this new rule could change the Internet that we see today.
Article 13 “threatens to shut down the ability of millions of people – from creators like you to everyday users – to upload content to platforms like YouTube”, “It threatens to block users in the EU from viewing content that is already live on the channels of creators everywhere,” The new rules also “threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs”, she said.
The statement also includes a direct call to mobilize users against Article 13. User content will run through even more aggressive filters than YouTube’s current Content ID system. However, Article 13 claims that it will fight against the theft and reuse of videos and music.
