Articles 11 (the link tax) and 13 (the meme ban) of the EU (European Union) Copyright Directive have been approved by the EU Council and are one step closer to becoming law. The Directive will now move to a final vote in the European Parliament which will take place between March 25, 2019 and April 18, 2019.
Yesterday the EU member states the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Italy, and Finland released a joint-statement rejecting the EU Copyright Directive in its current form. The Directive has also been vehemently opposed by businesses and citizens from around the world who are concerned that the final text would be crippling to smaller online platforms and restrict the sharing of commentary, parody, news, and other types of popular online content.
However, this opposition didn’t sway the EU Council and it announced its endorsement of the EU Copyright Directive in a tweet.
This endorsement means that all 751 MEPs (Members of European Parliament) will now have an opportunity to vote on the EU Copyright Directive. They can stop Articles 11 and 13 by either voting to kill the final text entirely or voting to amend the final text and remove Articles 11 and 13 from the final Directive.
This final vote is our last and best opportunity to stop Articles 11 and 13 becoming law. Here’s how you can make this happen.
- Contact your MEP and tell them that you want them to vote against Articles 11 and 13 of the EU Copyright Directive.
- Sign the record-breaking Change.org petition. It currently has over 4.8 million signatures and it’s become the largest position in European history. By signing this petition, you can bring even more awareness to the dangers of the EU Copyright Directive and convince others to contact their MEPs and ask them to oppose this Directive.
- Talk to people you know and encourage them to get in touch with their MEPs to tell them to vote against Articles 11 and 13.
- Create blog posts, videos, social media posts, and other types of online content that highlight the dangers of the EU Copyright Directive and place more pressure on MEPs to do the right thing and vote against this damaging legislation
- Register to vote in the European elections so that you can hold your MEP accountable.
