Slashdot Mirror
Copyright Law Could Put End To Net Memes (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Memes, remixes and other user-generated content could disappear online if the EU's proposed rules on copyright become law, warn experts. Digital rights groups are campaigning against the Copyright Directive, which the European Parliament will vote on later this month. The legislation aims to protect rights-holders in the internet age. But critics say it misunderstands the way people engage with web content and risks excessive censorship. The Copyright Directive is an attempt to reshape copyright for the internet, in particular rebalancing the relationship between copyright holders and online platforms. Article 13 states that platform providers should "take measures to ensure the functioning of agreements concluded with rights-holders for the use of their works." Critics say this will, in effect, require all internet platforms to filter all content put online by users, which many believe would be an excessive restriction on free speech. There is also concern that the proposals will rely on algorithms that will be programmed to "play safe" and delete anything that creates a risk for the platform.
I run a forum as well. The penalties for violating copyright are $200 to $150,000 per work infringed. Even if one item slipped by me and I was hit with a $200 penalty, that would be devastating. That's essentially half of my small forum's yearly budget. And that's if they go on the low end. If the copyright owner went for what seems to be the standard RIAA amount of around $2,000, my forum would permanently be shut down and I'd be in bad financial shape. If they went for the maximum, I'd need to personally declare bankruptcy. All because someone uploaded a screenshot from a movie without getting express permission for that one still. Meanwhile, the financial cost of using one still from a movie without the company's permission is literally $0. (Who looks at a meme image and then decides "Well, guess I don't need to buy THAT movie now!")
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Thats ok. The price of proper privacy is worth the cost. I understand that "capitalism with the sole goal of riches" is the way it goes in the USA, in Europe (and the rest of the civilized world) it's "capitalism with a goal of furthering society". Here, the people of Europe have decided that unfettered capitalism over the internet be curtailed to ensure privacy.
The US will get used to it's new trading partners, and they won't be first world nations. US built cars pollute too much, US products don't hit the bar in terms of privacy, US agricultural products aren't clean enough for import, US financial products don't hit the bar in terms of oversite etc etc. The US will trade instead with countries on it's level.
My current employer is not a "multinational conglomerate" but a small business in the United States. It did less than 1 percent of its business in the EU during the 365 days prior to the effective date of the GDPR. If it were to continue to ship to the EU, the price of the Article 27 representative service that I linked would exceed the total margin on orders that bill or ship to the EU.