As we noted on Monday, the British government said last week it has no plans to implement the E.U. Copyright Direction, including the controversial Article 17 (née 13) once Brexit formally happens this Friday. That news has sent the British music industry into a panic.
On Friday (Jan. 24) UK Music, an umbrella organization representing the recording, publishing and live music sectors, wrote to to business and energy minister Chris Skidmore urgently requesting a meeting regarding the government’s intentions.
"We understand that the UK’s imminent departure from the EU presents challenges to taking forward the Directive in its current form. However, the Government should not lose sight of the fact that it played a key role in developing and agreeing to the many necessary provisions within the Directive,” the group wrote. "If it is the case that Brexit presents an opportunity for the UK to write its own laws, then there is no excuse for a delay to our existing call for the Government to set out a road map outlining how it intends to take forward its support for the Directive’s key proposals."
On Tuesday (Jan. 28), Impala, which represents many independent record labels in Europe issued a statement decrying the U.K.’s announcement.
“Many UK members of the European parliament fought extremely hard for more than three years,” the statement said. “They took risks to make sure the directive would be approved. And now, creators from their own country may not be able to benefit from it. That would be a hard pill to swallow.”
Article 17 of the E.U. directive is expected to dramatically shrink the copyright safe harbor for online platforms like YouTube and Facebook for infringing material uploaded by users. YouTube, for one, fought ferociously to get it dropped from the directive and has issued dark (if unlikely) hints that it may have to pull out of Europe if it is implemented.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously called the directive “terrible for the internet” and has vowed a more “technology-friendly” approach.
Should the U.K. not implement something along the lines of Article 17, however, things could quickly get ugly for post-Brexit Britain.
The copyright safe harbors have recently become a major flashpoint in global trade negotiations, and with the U.K. no longer part of the E.U. trading bloc, the issue could complicate Britain’s efforts reach new trade agreements with both the E.U. and the U.S.
The safe harbors are enshrined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the U.S. But copyright groups mounted a major push to get them stripped from the recently completed USMCA (NAFTA 2.0), with an eye toward ultimately rolling them back in the U.S.
That effort ultimately failed, and the DMCA-like safe harbors stayed in the agreement. But with the U.K. eyeing the quick establishment of a new trade agreement with the U.S. following Brexit the issue is certain to be revived.
The European Union, meanwhile, has been mounting a broad and aggressive effort to limit the power and influence of U.S.-based technology giants beyond even the provisions of the Copyright Directive. Should the U.K. adopt anything short of Article 17 it could greatly complicate its efforts to reach a new trade deal with its former European partners.
Watch this space.
RightsTech@DEW
Concurrent Media’s RightsTech Project will be hosting a dedicated track of panels and keynotes at the Digital Entertainment World conference in Los Angeles next month.
Good seats are still available.
Short takes
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