The European Union is preparing to reform copyright laws. On 14 September 2016, former Digital Commissioner Günther Oettinger overhauled EU copyright reform. However, there are some major concerns that need to be talked about. First is Article 11, known as the ancillary copyright or "link tax". This move was criticised by OpenMedia and EDRi. Ancillary copyrights were shown to be a failure in Germany and Spain, with Google News being forced to shut down in Spain. Another huge concern is the obligation for platforms to filter out user-generated content in the name of copyright in Article 13. This move was hugely criticised as this would lead to legal uncertainty. This was mostly aimed at YouTube, which already has a content monitoring system in place. German Pirate Party MEP Julia Reda said that this would require Wikipedia to put in a content monitoring system. This is basically like SOPA and PIPA all over again. Wikipedia, Fight for the Future and Avaaz must team up with OpenMedia, EDRi and the EFF in fighting these bad copyright proposals since this will not only affect the EU, but this will affect every internet user worldwide. The media has not even reported much about this.
The EU Parliament has already submitted amendments to the proposals and they are scheduled for a vote in the JURI Committee in June. Let's call on them to vote in favour of the amendments that would remove ancillary copyrights that failed in Germany and Spain and would remove the obligation to monitor and filter out content since YouTube's Content ID system has blocked and removed fair use videos. This project was created to raise awareness.
How Wikipedia will be affected edit
This law is targeted toward the European Union, but this will affect all Wikipedians worldwide. I think another one-day blackout is necessary.