The 2016 EU Copyright Reform Proposal

16 September 2016

The 2016 EU Copyright Reform Proposal is out and it’s an absolute disaster, particularly for creators and internet users. From officially proposing a link tax to not safeguarding freedom of panorama, Commissioner Oettinger’s text goes against what many hoped would be a jump towards a progressive and more inclusive legislation. It is worth noting that this proposal still has to be approved by both the EU Commission and the EU Parliament. Additionally, MEPs from various political groups have already spoken against it. However, it’s incredibly disappointing and startling how the text turned out this way, after months of negotiations, different public consultations and persistent warnings from various civil groups.

You can help stop this. You can start by writing to your MEPs – tell them why this proposal is so harmful for users, for your community, for your projects and for yourself. Join the voices that have already spoken against this proposal by telling your friends and family how this might affect them. Go to savethelink.org and join the nearly 120k that want to make sure our right to link content is clear. Join your local activist group… There are many ways you can help prevent this EU Copyright Reform Proposal from going through.

You can also download WMP audio piece on Archive.org in a variety of formats, share, remix it and rebroadcast it. It is available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence, meaning that you have no restrictions to use it besides crediting White Market Podcast’s authorship.

Credits

This audio piece uses the following works by third-parties (in order of appearance):