YouTube CEO: EU’s new copyright directive is threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs

Susan Wojcicki, the director of YouTube, warns that Article 13 of the text adopted by the European Parliament in September for a new copyright directive may threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs and has very negative consequences for the internet.

According to Wojcicki article 13 the Internet as we know it now, drastically change . The current text of this article, which is also referred to by critics as the ‘upload filter’, will, according to the CEO, mean that millions of content creators and users will no longer be able to upload material on platforms such as YouTube. According to her, the EU directive that has not yet been finalized means that internet platforms will only allow content from a small group of large companies. She argues that it is too risky for many platforms to allow content from smaller parties because article 13 ensures that the platforms themselves will be liable for possible violations of copyright. She also predicts that a situation may arise in which specific EU citizens cannot access content that is normally available to people from outside the EU.

On 12 September the EU Parliament approved a text . ] for the new copyright directive. This means that the legislative process is over and the non-public negotiations with the Council and the Commission are starting. The final negotiated text will then be expected to be finished by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, after which the Member States will probably have to implement the new rules within two years.

The new copyright directive has two articles that are highly criticized. First and foremost, it concerns Article 13, which concerns an obligation for internet platforms to prevent that copyrighted material can be uploaded. Critics quickly take the term ‘upload filter’ in the mouth. The obligation to set up an upload filter does not appear as such in the legal text, but critics think that internet platforms cannot meet the new rules in any other way. According to proponents, the new rules are necessary to protect rights holders and to give them opportunities to get a reasonable compensation for their work.

With regard to the copyright line, there is also criticism of Article 11. This is not so much about internet platforms, but a new right for publishers of press publications, with which they can restrict the use of their articles. This also applies to hyperlinks. This is also called link tax or link tax. Critical MEP Julia Reda states that just including the title in a link to an article is already a violation.