New European Copyright Laws Could Change The Web Worldwide

European Parliament

Wired: Europe's New Copyright Law Could Change the Web Worldwide

The European Parliament passed sweeping copyright legislation Wednesday that, much like its privacy regulations, could have impact far beyond Europe.

Critics argue that the most controversial part of the proposal will effectively force all but the smallest website operators to adopt "upload filters" similar to those used by YouTube, and apply them to all types of content, to stop users from uploading copyrighted works. That could pose problems, given how expensive such filters could be to develop, and the high likelihood of false positives.

The legislation will also require site owners to pay for displaying snippets of content. Critics have called this a "link tax," though links and search engine listings are exempted from the requirement.

Read more ....

Update: EU approves controversial Copyright Directive, including internet ‘link tax’ and ‘upload filter’ (The Verge)

WNU Editor: I have already cut down my use of European news websites. This proposal will now kill it. I will now use European news links if they are only hosted by third parties like Yahoo news. But if I do find a juicy news story from Europe, I will then discuss it, say that it is being reported by France 24 (for example), and then tell the reader to Google it.

The Golden Age of the web is coming to an end. What will replace it will be new laws and regulations that will control what content we can see on the web.

Will The EU Court End This Blog?

Ars Technica: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks—shockwaves could be huge for Web users

Imagine having to check that none of your links' links are unauthorised, and so on.

Europe's highest court is considering whether every hyperlink in a Web page should be checked for potentially linking to material that infringes copyright, before it can be used. Such a legal requirement would place an unreasonable burden on anyone who uses hyperlinks, thereby destroying the Web we know and love.

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WNU Editor: One thing that a lot of people like about this blog is my use of numerous links to other news sources on a news story. But if the EU Court rules that this is no longer legal .... I would estimate that this practice will probably come to an end. Finding and posting other links takes a long time, and while I do check on whether it is permitted to link to a news story ... the fact that I would then be forced to always check on links from news sources that I have always felt comfortable with in the past would severely cut in the content on what I provide.

More News On The EU Court To Examine The Legality Of Using Hyper-Links

Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks to copyrighted content -- Ars Technica
Highest EU Court Considers Criminalizing Website Hyperlinks -- Infowars
Europe considers the legality of the humble, yet powerful, hyperlink -- The Next Web
It killed Safe Harbor. Will Europe's highest court now kill off hyperlinks? -- The Register

The Coming End Of This Blog?

Daily Caller: Congressional Review Of Copyright Law May Threaten Drudge Report

WASHINGTON — Congress may update digital copyright law affecting aggregator sites, like the Drudge Report and Real Clear Politics, along with news sites in the near future.

“Two years ago, the House Judiciary Committee launched a comprehensive review of our nation’s copyright laws, which have not been updated since 1976. As technology continues to rapidly advance, we have a responsibility to ensure that our laws are keeping pace with these developments,” Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte said in a statement.

Since March of 2013, the House Judiciary Committee has conducted 20 hearings, which included testimony from 100 witnesses on the subject of copyright law in the digital age. The topics range from fair use to scope of copyright protection to music licensing.

WNU Editor: This is an issue that I have to always be on top of .... and recent trends are not positive. And while opposition to changes in U.S. copyright laws is bipartisan, support for it is also bipartisan. And while I do live in Canada where our copyright laws are different from the U.S., I do use Blogger which is Google owned and based in the U.S.. But fear not ... in the event that these laws do change in the coming years, I will be based elsewhere and still posting. But for those who live and blog in the U.S. .... tough times are ahead.

A.P. Cracks Down on Unpaid Use of Articles on Web

From New York Times:

Taking a new hard line that news articles should not turn up on search engines and Web sites without permission, The Associated Press said Thursday that it would add software to each article that shows what limits apply to the rights to use it, and that notifies The A.P. about how the article is used.

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My Comment: We all knew that this day was coming. From now on War News Updates will provide its own headline to each AP story and/or affiliated service, and will provide only a few choice sentences from any of their published stories.

I guess there will now be a boost in traffic to Reuters and other news services.