Europe has taken a final step to rewrite copyright rules that could dramatically change the internet for the first time in 20 years.

In a tense vote in Strasbourg, MEPs voted in favour of a major upheaval that curb the power of internet giants including Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube.

The copyright reforms were first proposed by activists in the UK, who claimed that for too long internet giants like Google, YouTube or Facebook were profiteering off of artists' and publishers' material without giving them anything in exchange.

They argued that this unhealthy dynamic was helping to line the pockets of big tech but crippling the music, photography, publishing and cinema industries as well as individual artists.

MEPs voted on the measures three times: in July 2018 they were taken back to the drawing board as the majority voted against; in September they passed with a majority; and were then refined to their current form.

Now the European Council will vote once more on the final format of the proposals and turn them into law. By 2021, the internet will have changed forever.

But will these new copyright measures succeed? Here's everything you need to know about the most controversial terms agreed in Europe, and exactly how they might affect your life online.