Leading journalists join call for EU force internet giants to pay for linked news content
Leading journalists join call for EU copyright reform
The plans have been firmly opposed by big US tech firms
such as Google and Facebook, as well as advocates of internet freedom
August 28, 2018
Leading journalists from more than 20 countries joined a
call Tuesday for European MPs to approve a controversial media reform aimed at
forcing internet giants to pay for news content.
European Parliament lawmakers return in September to
discuss the proposal, a first draft of which was rejected last month after a
fierce debate.
The so-called copyright and neighbouring rights law aims
to ensure that producers of creative content—whether news, music or movies—are
paid fairly in a digital world.
But the plans have been firmly opposed by big US tech
firms such as Google and Facebook, as well as advocates of internet freedom.
An open letter signed by more than 100 prominent
journalists from major news outlets warned Tuesday that "this fleecing of
the media of their rightful revenue" was "morally and democratically
unjustifiable".
"We have become targets and our reporting missions
cost more and more," said the letter written by AFP foreign correspondent
Sammy Ketz and published in several European newspapers including France's Le
Monde.
"Yet, even though (the media) pay for the content
and send the journalists who will risk their lives to produce a trustworthy,
thorough and diverse news service, it is not they who reap the profits but the
internet platforms, which help themselves without paying a cent," the
letter said.
"It is as if a stranger came along and shamelessly
snatched the fruits of your labour."
The editorial urged the European Parliament to "vote
massively in favour of neighbouring rights for the survival of democracy and
one of its most remarkable symbols: journalism".
Major publishers, including AFP, have pushed for the
reform—known as Article 11—seeing it as an urgently needed solution against a
backdrop of free online news that has wiped out earnings for traditional media
companies.
But opponents have called it a "link tax" that
will stifle discourse on the Internet.
Resistance has been especially heated to Article 13: the
proposal to make online platforms legally liable for copyrighted material put
on the web by users.
Music legend Paul McCartney as well as major music labels
and film studios had lobbied politicians urging them to come together and back
the changes.
Critics, however, argue the reform will lead to blanket
censorship by tech platforms that have become an online hub for creativity,
especially YouTube.
They say it will also restrict the usage of memes and
remixes by everyday internet surfers.
But the journalists on Tuesday rejected this as a
"lie".
"Free access to the web will endure because the
internet giants, which now use editorial content for free, can reimburse the
media without asking consumers to pay," the open letter said.
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