If you are interested in the new Copyright proposals, I appreciate your concerns regarding the new Copyright reform proposals. However, the objective of Article 13 is to make sure authors, such as musicians, are appropriately paid for their work, and to ensure that platforms fairly share revenues which they derive from creative works on their sites with creators.
In the text under discussion, if one of the main purposes of a platform is to share copyright works, if they optimise these works and also derive profit from them, the platform would need to conclude a fair license with the rightholders, if rightholders request this. If not, platforms will have to check for and remove specific copyright content once this is supplied from rightholders. This could include pirated films which are on platforms at the same time as they are shown at the cinema. However, if a platform’s main purpose is not to share protected works, it does not optimise copyright works nor to make profit from them, it would not be required to conclude a license.
Closing this “value gap” is an essential part of the Copyright Directive, which Secretary of State Matthew Hancock supports addressing (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/matt-hancocks-speech-at-the-alliance-for-intellectual-property-reception) . The ECR supports the general policy justification behind it, which is to make sure that platforms are responsible for their sites and that authors are fairly rewarded and incentivised to create work. Content recognition will help to make sure creators, such as song writers, can be better identified and paid fairly for their work. Nevertheless, this should not be done at the expense of user's rights. We are dedicated to striking the right balance between adequately rewarding rightholders and safeguarding users' rights. There are therefore important safeguards to protect users' rights and to make sure only proportionate measures are taken.
As regards to Article 11 and the “link tax”, this remains under discussion. The objective is to enable the publishing industry and journalists to be given their fair share of revenue. However, as currently drafted it is too far reaching for the ECR to be able to lend its support to it.