Publishers and editors reject bill for possible copyright infringement

By Estudio Chaloupka

The two most representative associations of the publishing and editing industries of Argentina publicly expressed their rejection of a bill on intermediary liability that looks to guarantee freedom of expression and regulate Internet service providers (ISPs). In a note sent to the Chamber of Deputies, the Argentine Chamber of Books and the Argentine Chamber of Publications state that "if the bill is approved, Argentine authors and editors will be severely harmed as they do not have an adequate protection system to prevent Internet piracy”.

The bill has been already partially approved by the federal Congress after the Senate approved it in December and is currently under debate in the Chamber of Deputies. It proposes that Internet intermediaries (ISPs, search engines and social media platforms) are not liable for those contents uploaded by third parties, and will have no general obligation to monitor their platforms to detect any possible copyright infringements.

If someone -a physical or legal person- perceives that such contents “legally damages” their rights, they can request that they are removed, blocked, suspended and/or disabled by Internet intermediaries through an action of protection before a federal judge. This means that ISPs will be held liable for infringing third-party content only if they are required by a judge.