The battle to stop Articles 11 (the link tax) and 13 (the meme ban) is almost over. The date of the final vote on the EU Copyright Directive has been confirmed for Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at 12 noon CET. And just one day after this final vote was confirmed, a major European party came out against Article 13.
MEP Julia Reda broke the news of the final vote on Twitter and suggested that supporters of Articles 11 and 13 were getting nervous which is why they were choosing to have this vote at the earliest possible time.
A day after Reda made this announcement, supporters of Articles 11 and 13 were given another reason to be nervous when the the major Polish political party Platforma (Civic Platform) said that it will vote against the EU Copyright Directive if it contains Article 13.
Platforma is the second largest party in the EPP (European People’s Party) – a coalition of European national political parties. The EPP is the main backer of Article 13 and without the support of this group, Article 13 is very likely to be rejected during the final vote. The EPP is currently split on Article 13 but EPP parties from Luxembourg, Sweden, and the Czech Republic all oppose it.
So far, 126 MEPs have pledged to vote against Article 13. Now we just need a final push to get make sure Articles 11 and 13 are rejected during this final vote on the EU Copyright Directive.
Here’s how to ensure this happens:
- Contact your local MEP and tell them that you want them to oppose Articles 11 and 13 of the EU Copyright Directive.
- Ask your local MEP to publicly pledge that they will vote against the EU Copyright Directive.
- Sign the record-breaking petition which is opposing the EU Copyright Directive.
- Register to vote in the European elections and re-elect your MEP if they vote against the EU Copyright Directive.
- Encourage the people you know to contact their MEPs and ask them to vote against Articles 11 and 13 of the EU Copyright Directive.
