EU Copyright Reform Talks to Continue Into Next Year

Efforts to finalize a deal on updated EU copyright rules failed Thursday, leaving talks between the European Parliament and Council to be taken up again under the Romanian Presidency, which begins Jan. 1. The Dec. 13 "trilogue did not resolve all issues" and it's unclear when the next meeting will be, emailed a Council spokesperson. Asked whether the outstanding issues are still Article 13, which would require platforms to monitor uploads for copyright infringement, and Article 11, which would give press publishers a new right to remuneration, he said, "Basically yes." Heavy lobbying for and against both articles continued before the trilogue meeting. The plan by the current Austrian Presidency to finish negotiations last week seemed "very ambitious," Member of the European Parliament Julia Reda, of the Greens/European Free Alliance and Germany, told us earlier this month. "We are nowhere near a compromise on the most controversial articles 11 and 13." In a Dec. 13 post, she noted that major film industry associations -- including the Motion Picture Association and Association of Commercial Television in Europe -- and sports leagues wanted their sectors expressly excluded from Article 13 because the Council and Parliament versions would both end up benefiting big platforms. Others opposing the provision include the Computer & Communication Industry Association and European Digital Rights (see 1809120001). News publishers, meanwhile, said failure to negotiate a workable neighboring right to remuneration for press publishers would "condemn consumers to a future of news experienced through the lens of Google" since the provision would require Google to secure licenses to use their content. Google Vice President-News Richard Gingras blogged earlier this month that Article 11 could change the principle of equal access to information by requiring online services to strike commercial deals with publishers to show hyperlinks and short news snippets, forcing platforms to make decisions about what content to include.