Today, Council firmly rejected the negotiating mandate that was supposed to set out Member States’ position ahead of what was supposed to be the final negotiation round with the European Parliament, Politico reports. National governments failed to agree on a common position on the two most controversial articles, Article 11, also known as the Link Tax, and Article 13, which would require online platforms to use upload filters in an attempt to prevent copyright infringement before it happens.

A total of 11 countries voted against the compromise text proposed by the Romanian Council presidency earlier this week: Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland and Slovenia, who already opposed a previous version of the directive, as well as Italy, Poland, Sweden, Croatia, Luxembourg and Portugal. With the exception of Portugal and Croatia, all of these governments are known for thinking that either Article 11 or Article 13, respectively, are insufficiently protective of users’ rights. At the same time, some rightsholder groups who are supposed to benefit from the Directive are also turning their backs on Article 13.

This surprising turn of events does not mean the end of Link Tax or censorship machines, but it does make an adoption of the copyright directive before the European elections in May less likely. The Romanian Council presidency will have the chance to come up with a new text to try to find a qualified majority, but with opposition mounting on both sides of the debate, this is going to be a difficult task indeed.

The outcome of today’s Council vote also shows that public attention to the copyright reform is having an effect. Keeping up the pressure in the coming weeks will be more important than ever to make sure that the most dangerous elements of the new copyright proposal will be rejected.

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17 comments

  1. 1

    Wonderful! We gained some time at least! Let’s use it! Wisely and actively!

  2. 2
    Ryszard

    Thank you for fighting the good fight :)

  3. 3
    Dennis Nilsson

    That is very good news. Thanks Julia!

  4. 4

    Ms. Reda all I can say is congratulations to you in particular. This isn’t the end of the fight by any means but the fact that the negotiations has hit this speed bump at all really all comes back to you informing and mobilizing the public about this matter.

    I wish more politicians were like you and kept the public informed to things because goodness amazing things happen when people actually get legal jargon explained to them.

  5. 5

    Glory be to Jesus Christ and to st. Mary for this victory ! Then, congratulations to you, miz Reda, and your colleagues or allies ! Bravo.

  6. 6

    Thank you, thank you for your hard work on this!

  7. 7

    Hello Julia Read,
    My name is Otto Oome and I am a Youtuber for three years now.
    I live in Belgium in the Dutch side (Limburg)
    My video’s are for 75% tutorials for apps and software.

    Thanx for updating about article 13 on your page.
    and being a pirat in the european parliament.

    I found your article via tweakers.
    https://tweakers.net/nieuws/148148/nederland-en-belgie-blokkeren-eu-wettekst-over-linkbelasting-en-uploadfilter.html?nb=2019-01-19&u=1600

    I already made a video against article 13.
    Not as good as Julien Bam but still…

    I am happy the read that article 13 is on hold….
    And that even the benefitters are even against it and
    don’t want to be mentioned in the article.

  8. 8

    A wonderful result. Make you realize peoples voices do change things. well done julia

  9. 9

    Das ist nicht zuletzt dein Verdienst, Julia. Danke für deine Arbeit!

  10. 10
    Der Paul

    Es wäre einfach schön, wenn eine deutsche EU-Abgeordnet, in der Sprache schreiben würde, die ihre Wähler sprechen und verstehen.
    Mich ärgert es auf jeden Fall immer wieder, wenn ich Links auf ihre Seite folge und dann immer mühevoll, die Texte übersetzen lassen muss. Dabei weiß ich dann auch nicht, ob der Translator mir auch das liefert, was sie ursprünglich geschrieben haben.

    Der Paul

  11. 11

    More power to you, Julia Reda. Thank you!

  12. 12
    G.M. Coates

    The fight is far from over, but this news is heartening to hear.

  13. 13

    Keep fighting the good figh! Let’s keep the internet safe

  14. 14
    Wurzelsepp

    Liebe Julia,
    vielen herzlichen Dank für deinen unermüdlichen Einsatz! Auch wenn hier nicht sehr viele Kommentare stehen bisher, so kannst du dir sicher sein, dass unglaublich viele Menschen da draussen das zu schätzen wissen. Danke, danke, danke!

  15. 15

    Keep up fighting

  16. 16

    Thank you for your work, Julia!