Was Boris Johnson Justified In Claiming Article 13 Is “Terrible for the Internet”?
Are these accusations justified?
What is Article 13 (now 17)?
It is the ‘European Union Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market’ and its designed to dictate how copyrighted content is shared on online platforms. This is of particular concern for online platforms such as Soundcloud, Daily motion and YouTube.
Initially there was a huge concern about Article 13 (now 17) from many critics, particularly on social media, who claimed that the EU Directive would end up killing memes and GIFs! However, the wording of the directive suggests otherwise as memes would be allowed for “the purposes of quotation, criticism, review, caricature, parody and pastiche”.
What is a Directive and what is a Copyright?
Copyright is a form of Intellectual Property right that allows an artist to protect how their original work is being used.
An EU Directive is a form of legislation that sets out a goal that all EU countries must achieve. However, this is up to the individual countries to devise their own laws on how to reach these goals.
Will it affect the UK?
Prime minister Boris Johnson criticised the EU Directive in March last year, claiming that it was “Terrible for the Internet”. This claim was also backed up by Google who believe it would “harm Europe’s creative and digital industries” and “change the web as we know it”.
YouTube campaigned against this as they claimed, they may have to block existing videos and new uploads from creators in Europe. They even encouraged prominent vloggers to make videos about Article 13 (now 17). In addition to this they started the #savetheinternet campaign, which raised awareness of the effects that Article 13 (now 17) may have on content sharing.
The Effect of Brexit could be good for the UK in this situation. Chris Skidmore responded to a written question in parliament saying, “The United Kingdom will not be required to implement the Directive, and the Government has no plans to do so”. This was welcomed by Kathy Berry, a professional support Lawyer from Linklaters, who mentioned to the BBC that this could “allow the UK to agree to more tech-friendly copyright provisions in free trade deals with other countries”.
It will be hard to say whether this will have a great impact and if it will be negative, as its a Directive and members states can choose what to do about it. However, in light of the evidence above it can be claimed that Boris Johnson was justified in his claim.
By Jaidaksh Anilkumar