Argentina discusses about new copyright rules for the internet

By Estudio Chaloupka

On March 26, 2019, the European Parliament approved new copyright rules for the internet by 348 votes in favour, 274 against and 36 abstentions. The directive aims to enhance rights holders’ chances, notably musicians, performers and script authors, (creatives) as well as news publishers, to negotiate better remuneration deals for the use of their works when these feature on internet platforms. It does this by making internet platforms directly liable for content uploaded to their site and by automatically giving the right to news publishers to negotiate deals on behalf of its journalists for news stories used by news aggregators.

Currently, internet companies have little incentive to sign fair licensing agreements with rights holders, because they are not considered liable for the content that their users upload. They are only obliged to remove infringing content when a rights holder asks them to do so. However, this is cumbersome for rights holders and does not guarantee them a fair revenue. Making internet companies liable will enhance rights holders’ chances (notably musicians, performers and script authors, as well as news publishers and journalists) to secure fair licensing agreements, thereby obtaining fairer remuneration for the use of their works exploited digitally.

“This directive is an important step towards correcting a situation which has allowed a few companies to earn huge sums of money without properly remunerating the thousands of creatives and journalists whose work they depend on. At the same time, the adopted text contains numerous provisions that will guarantee that the internet remains a space for free expression”, stated Axel Voss, a Member of the European Parliament from Germany.

In Argentina the EU’s decision has deepened the debate and accelerated the need of legislation on the matter, according to newspaper Clarín.  "Argentina does not have a unique position, but we are more in favor of creation”, said Gustavo Schotz, National Director of Copyright. “Platforms assign publicity and do not ignore what happens with the contents”, he added. Schotz also considered that third-party rights are being used and that search engines benefit because “they ensure traffic with those contents”.

On the other sided, a spokesman for Google Argentina released a brief statement to Clarín stating that copyright directives have been improved but still have legal uncertainty for creative and digital economies of Europe. “The details are important, and we look forward to working with politicians, media editors, creators and rights holders to the extent that EU member states implement these new rules”.