German minister: due to the new EU copyright directive there will be upload filters

The German Federal Minister of Justice, Katarina Barley, states that the new EU Copyright Directive will undoubtedly lead to the establishment of upload filters. In doing so, she confirms the fears of critics, who state that Article 13 will provide upload filters.

Katarina Barley says “she knows of no other technical measures with which it is possible to prevent violations of licenses”, Heise writes, among others. This means that upload filters will appear, according to the Justice Minister of the German party SPD.

The German minister previously indicated that she would prefer Article 13 not to be part of the new EU copyright directive, but she also states that it is high time that new copyright rules were introduced at European level and that this importance ignores the discussion on Article 13. According to her, the Directive ensures, among other things, better contractual conditions for artists and content creators.

Article 13 ensures that platforms become liable if users upload copyrighted material. Critics argue that this regime leads to the setting up of upload filters, because otherwise liability lurks far too quickly.

The final vote on the directive will take place during the plenary session in the European Parliament between 25 and 28 March. Earlier, behind closed doors, agreement was reached on the renewed copyright directive.

Nearly five million people have now signed the petition against Article 13. According to a website, 100 MEPs have now indicated that they will vote against the directive. The German Wikipedia site is reportedly going to go black on March 21 in protest against the new rules.