- Producers of creative content must be paid fairly in a digital world
PARIS: Leading journalists from more than 20 countries joined a call for European lawmakers to approve a controversial media reform aimed at forcing internet giants to pay for news content.
In September, European Parliament lawmakers return to discuss the proposal, a first draft of which was rejected last month after a fierce debate. The so-called copyright and neighbouring rights law aims to ensure that producers of creative content — whether news, music or movies — are paid fairly in a digital world.
But the plans have been firmly opposed by big tech firms such as Google and Facebook, as well as advocates of internet freedom. An open letter signed by more than 100 prominent journalists from major news outlets warned that this fleecing of the media of their rightful revenue was morally and democratically unjustifiable.
“We have become targets and our reporting missions cost more and more,” said Sammy Ketz, AFP foreign correspondent, in a letter published in several European newspapers including Le Monde. “Yet, even though (the media) pay for the content and send the journalists who will risk their lives to produce a trustworthy, thorough and diverse news service, it is not they who reap the profits but the internet platforms, which help themselves without paying a cent,” the letter said.
Article 11
The editorial urged the European Parliament to vote massively in favour of neighbouring rights for the survival of democracy and one of its most remarkable symbols: journalism. Major publishers have pushed for the reform, known as Article 11, seeing it as an urgently needed solution against a backdrop of free online news that has wiped out earnings for traditional media companies.
But opponents have called it a link tax that will stifle discourse on the Internet. Resistance has been especially heated to Article 13: the proposal to make online platforms legally liable for copyrighted material put on the web by users. Music legend Paul McCartney as well as major music labels and film studios had lobbied politicians urging them to come together and back the changes.
However, critics argue the reform will lead to blanket censorship by tech platforms that have become an online hub for creativity, especially YouTube.
