iStock / AntonioGuillem

The European Parliament has voted against a controversial proposed new copyright law that critics warned could imperil a free and open internet.

The Copyright Directive, which contained the particularly concerning Article 13, was rejected by 318 votes to 278, with 31 abstentions. The EU’s proposed copyright reforms will now be debated again in September, giving policymakers more time to discuss and refine the crucial dossier.


The rejection of the law in its current form effectively sends it back to the drawing board. "Great success: Your protests have worked!” Julia Reda, a Pirate Party MEP who had campaigned against the legislation, wrote on Twitter.

“The rejection, for now, of the mandate means the Parliament has another few months to get it right,” said Alyn Smith MEP, SNP member of the European Parliament for Scotland. “I look forward to supporting colleagues in that and will continue to be active in efforts to strike a balance that works for everyone.”

Read next Google and Microsoft staff set to join the UK’s first tech trade union Google and Microsoft staff set to join the UK’s first tech trade union

What is Article 13? The EU's divisive new copyright plan explained Policy What is Article 13? The EU's divisive new copyright plan explained

The rejected proposals would have placed far greater responsibility on individual websites to check for copyright infringements. It gained the support of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, while Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web, warned it threatened internet freedom.


Responding to the vote, the BPI, which represents record labels in the UK said that it would continue to work with policymakers to “explain how the proposed Directive will benefit not just European creativity, but also internet users and the technology sector”. The Mozilla Foundation, which makes the popular Firefox browser, praised the result of the vote, saying that MEPs had “rejected rubber stamping proposals that would have forced internet companies to filter the web, and would have introduced an unprecedented tax on linking online”.

The EU's bizarre war on memes is totally unwinnable Regulation The EU's bizarre war on memes is totally unwinnable

The crucial vote was subject to heavy lobbying from both sides, with copyright holders arguing internet firms must do more to ensure laws are enforced on their platforms. But for many the proposed legislation was both too vague and too far-reaching and failed to grasp how the internet operates.

An open letter signed by 70 technology leaders, including Berners-Lee, warned that the proposals were an “imminent threat” to the future of the internet as we know it. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales described the plans as “disastrous”.


The two most debated parts of the EU’s Copyright Directive were Article 11 and Article 13. Article 11 aimed to prevent online content aggregators from sharing links without paying for them, while Article 13 would have required websites to enforce copyright laws far more proactively.

Broadly, the Copyright Directive is an attempt to update legislation around copyright law to better reflect modern technologies, but critics have said some elements of it either went too far or were totally unworkable.

Although primarily intended to prevent the online streaming of pirated music and video, the broad scope of Article 13 could have covered any copyrightable material, including images, audio, video, compiled software, code and the written word. Some had raised concerns that it would, if enforced, pose a threat to memes that make use of copyrighted material.