Google has denounced the European Union's controversial new copyright reforms, saying they will hurt the bloc's creative and digital economies.

The European Parliament on Tuesday approved the overhaul, which hands more power to news publishers and record companies against internet giants.

The new rules mean technology giant Google, along with others including YouTube and Facebook, will have to pay compensation to publishers, artists and musicians.

But opponents claim they could restrict freedom of speech, hamper online creativity and force websites to install filters.

Julia Reda, a German MEP and vocal opponent of the move, described the decision as a 'dark day for internet freedom'.

The new EU copyright law means tech giants such as Facebook and Google (pictured) would have to sign licensing agreements with rights holders such as musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists to use their work

The vote brings to an end three years of impassioned debate which has pitted the internet giants against creative writers and artists who want to see better protection of their rights and income.

Despite furious lobbying ahead of the vote, MEPs meeting in Strasbourg ended up passing the draft law with 348 votes in favour, 274 against, and 36 abstentions.

Germany was at the heart of the anti-reform movement, led by Reda, a 32-year-old Pirate Party MEP who has spearheaded a campaign against two of the law's provisions that have become flashpoints in the debate - articles 11 and 13.

She and her supporters warned that Article 13 would require platforms to install expensive content filters that would automatically and often erroneously delete content from the web.

After saying the vote marked a 'dark day for internet freedom', Reda decried that MEPs refused, albeit narrowly, to modify the text before the final vote.

People take part in a demonstration under the slogan 'Save The Internet' against the planned overhaul of European Union's online copyright law on March 23, 2019 in Berlin

The second controversial article advocated the creation of a 'neighbouring right' to copyright for news media.

It should enable news companies to be better paid when their output is used by information aggregators like Google News or social networks such as Facebook.

Major publishers including AFP have pushed hard for the reform, seeing it as an urgent remedy to safeguard quality journalism and the plummeting earnings of traditional media companies.

The reform, if properly implemented by member states 'can help to maintain journalism in the field, which all evidence shows is still the best way to combat misinformation,' said AFP CEO Fabrice Fries.

But opponents have called it a 'link tax' that will stifle discourse on the internet and pay only big media companies, with no real benefits for journalists or news gatherers.

The reform is staunchly backed by France and several other member states, but some countries may decide to use the flexibility built into the reform that allows a loose interpretation of the rules.

People take part in a demonstration in favour of the new copyright directive ahead of the vote on copyright in the Digital Single Market at the European Parliament on Tuesday

EU decision makers had been deliberating about the extent of the reforms for years, most recently tweaking the text to make some exemptions, such as non-commercial encyclopaedias like Wikipedia, and introducing protections for popular web memes.

But a Google spokesperson said the two-decade old law 'is improved but will still lead to legal uncertainty and will hurt Europe's creative and digital economies'.

'The details matter, and we look forward to working with policy makers, publishers, creators and rights holders as EU member states move to implement these new rules.'

EU member states have two years to implement the law, although it is not clear what it would mean for the UK in the face of Brexit uncertainty.

'Whether the UK leaves Europe with or without a deal, it's hard to see that it would not follow Europe's lead on this, whatever the respective outcomes of the EU vote tomorrow and Brexit,' Raffaella De Santis, associate at law firm Harbottle & Lewis, said.

Launched in 2016, the revamp to European copyright legislation was seen as urgently needed, not having been updated since 2001, before the birth of YouTube or Facebook.

It was loudly backed by media companies and artists, who want to obtain a better return from web platforms that allow users to distribute their content.

But it was strongly opposed by Silicon Valley, and especially Google that makes huge profits from the advertising generated on content it hosts, and also by supporters of a free internet who fear it will result in unprecedented restrictions to web freedom.

The lobbying battle to reform Europe's copyright law has raged since September 2016 when the European Commission proposed to modernise copyright for the digital age, sparking a major debate between tech giants, artistic creators and member states

The final days before the vote were marked by marches and media stunts, including tens of thousands of people protesting in Germany on Saturday under the slogan 'Save the Internet'.

There were similar protests in Austria, Poland and Portugal, while major Polish newspapers on Monday printed blank front pages in an appeal that MEPs adopt the reform.

'I know there are lots of fears about what users can do or not - now we have clear guarantees for freedom of speech, teaching and online creativity,' Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip said after the vote.

More than five million people signed a 'save the internet' petition against the changes, as well as taking to the streets in protest across Europe last month.

Catherine Stihler, chief executive of Open Knowledge International, said: 'This vote is a massive blow for every internet user in Europe.

'MEPs have rejected pleas from millions of EU citizens to save the internet, and chose instead to restrict freedom of speech and expression online.

'We now risk the creation of a more closed society at the very time we should be using digital advances to build a more open world where knowledge creates power for the many, not the few.

'But while this result is deeply disappointing, the forthcoming European elections provide an opportunity for candidates to stand on a platform to seek a fresh mandate to reject this censorship.'

Supporters of the new law gathered outside the European Parliament on March 26, 2019 in Strasbourg, eastern France today

The move is unpopular with many Europeans who view it as an attempt to censor the web - and organised large rallies against it. Pictured: A protest in Cologne in February

On the other side of the debate, Sir Paul McCartney and Debbie Harry have been among the most vocal supporters of the proposals.

'It will allow artists to continue to create the music loved by fans all over the world by ensuring that the digital services that generate vast profits from music can no longer claim to have no responsibility for the content their businesses depend on,' Blondie singer Harry wrote in the Guardian last week.

The law was also supported by news agencies across Europe, with the EANA (European Alliance of News Agencies) arguing it provides an opportunity to further develop quality news services and enables it to compete more fairly with tech giants.

'A huge thank you to all the MEPs who supported the Copyright Directive today and the fantastic work of all those who have campaigned so hard on this,' representation body UK Music tweeted.

Alexandru Giboi, secretary general of the EANA, said: 'Creators of content have a much better chance of obtaining a fair remuneration for their work, and European citizens have also a much better chance of accessing quality content online.

'In consequence, the new copyright legislation will prove to be a win-win solution for both the trustworthy, quality media and the public.

'The inclusion of news agencies in the text of the directive can also be interpreted as a recognition of the quality of our work, and of the importance that news agency journalism has, especially for safeguarding European media as a whole, as European news agencies are the main providers of quality news to most of the other media organisations in Europe.'