MEPs have voted to pass the much-discussed Article 13 of the European Copyright Directive. Of the 751 politicians voting on the directive today in Strasbourg, 438 voted in favour, 226 against and 39 abstained.

Soulagement après le vote sur la directive #droitdauteur. L'Europe de la diversité culturelle renforcée, une presse indépendante et la liberté d'expression préservées après le vote du rapport @AxelVossMdEP. Les négociations vont pouvoir enfin débuter avec le Conseil. pic.twitter.com/jaX3BcMrNz — Sylvie Guillaume (@sylvieguillaume) September 12, 2018

This section of the proposed legislation would make internet platforms liable for copyrighted content uploaded by their users:

“Article 13 creates an obligation on information society service providers storing and giving access to large amounts of works and other subject-matter uploaded by their users to take appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure the functioning of agreements concluded with rightholders and to prevent the availability on their services of content identified by rightholders in cooperation with the service providers”

This would remove the ‘safe harbours’ that have been a long-term bugbear for music rightsholders, who see them as responsible for the ‘value gap’ between the music royalties paid by platforms like YouTube, and those that do not benefit from safe harbours, like Spotify and Apple Music.

Critics of Article 13 argue that it would damage key principles of free expression online by forcing platforms to filter anything that might be copyrighted content, while also damaging the chances of small internet startups to compete with giants like Google/YouTube, who can afford to spend tens of millions of dollars building tools like the latter’s ContentID to comply with the legislation.

The news is already being celebrated by music rightsholders and their representative bodies, but will come as a blow to the technology companies and activists who had been campaigning against the proposal.

Independent body Impala was one of the first to hail the news, describing it as a “great result for creators”. Boss Helen Smith had published an opinion piece earlier this week defending the proposed legislation. “Nobody in our community is suggesting ‘tearing down the internet.’ What we are asking lawmakers to do is to make sure that it works for everyone,” she wrote.

👏👏👏 MEP @AxelVossMdEP Proposal wins the vote, great result for creators #EuropeforCreators — IMPALA (@IMPALAMusic) September 12, 2018

Google provided this statement to Music Ally following the vote. “People want access to quality news and creative content online,” said a spokesperson. “We’ve always said that more innovation and collaboration are the best way to achieve a sustainable future for the European news and creative sectors, and we’re committed to continued close partnership with these industries.”

[Also passed today was Article 11, which focuses more on the news side of things, or the ‘link tax’ as critics labeled it.)

MEP Julia Reda, who had been one of the prominent critics of the proposals, summarised the fears in a tweet posted after the vote was carried.

Article 13 vote: The European Parliament endorses #uploadfilters for all but the smallest sites and apps. Anything you want to publish will need to first be approved by these filters, perfectly legal content like parodies & memes will be caught in the crosshairs #SaveYourInternet pic.twitter.com/bTEtXRS3qx — Julia Reda (@Senficon) September 12, 2018

It’s very important to understand that today’s vote does not make Article 13 or the overall European Copyright Directive law. This is about agreeing the European Parliament’s approved text for the directive, which then goes to the European Commission and its member states, with the reported goal of becoming final, passed European legislation sometime in 2019.

There is thus still potential for the text to change; for the requirements to evolve; for more lobbying both behind the scenes and very publicly on the internet. Today is certainly a victory for music rightsholders within that wider context, but it’s not the end of the story yet. Global music body the IFPI acknowledged that in its statement this afternoon.

“IFPI joins others in the creative community in thanking the European Parliament for its work on this proposal in the most difficult of circumstances and congratulates Rapporteur Axel Voss MEP on an outstanding performance,” said chief executive Frances Moore. “We now look forward to working with the three institutions in the forthcoming trilogue to ensure the Value Gap is effectively closed.”

[Trilogue? Here’s a definition: “Informal tripartite meetings on legislative proposals between representatives of the Parliament, the Council and the Commission. Their purpose is to reach a provisional agreement on a text acceptable to both the Council and the Parliament.”]

Both sides are training their attention on this next step, however:

Now that Parliament and Council have adopted their positions, we will have one final chance to reject #UploadFilters and #LinkTax in the final vote on the directive after trilogue, probably in the spring. Talk to your governments meanwhile! #SaveYourInternet — Julia Reda (@Senficon) September 12, 2018

“We expect the next step in trilogue to make progress quickly and an agreement on a strong and balanced text to be found. The eyes of the world are on Europe to make online platforms more accountable and set new standards for creators online,” added Impala’s Smith in a statement following the vote.

[IMPALA Statement] European Parliament gives the thumbs up on copyright reform – Great result for Europe’s creators -> https://t.co/KUP6x7OMRc pic.twitter.com/PAF0LTrNFM — IMPALA (@IMPALAMusic) September 12, 2018

We’ll be covering reactions to the news in the coming hours here, so check back on this story regularly for updates. For now, here are some more reactions from both sides of the Article 13 debate:

ARTICLE 13 SUPPORTERS

Great news for artists & the creative community & fans who #LoveMusic that the vote to reform the #CopyrightDirective was passed by @Europarl_EN – #MEPs stood up to the techlobby to fix the #ValueGap & back the creators who produce the content we love & create a fairer internet pic.twitter.com/B71oDlz86E — bpi music (@bpi_music) September 12, 2018

https://twitter.com/BASCA_uk/status/1039837287029383169

Huge thanks to MEPs for taking this decisive step! This is a fantastic victory for everyone who cares about the future of music and wants to see it continue to succeed. Well done to everyone who campaigned so passionately for the #LoveMusic campaign https://t.co/XoGxhFb72D pic.twitter.com/1R5TWOx99D — UK Music (@UK_Music) September 12, 2018

Une grande avancée pour l’Europe : le droit d’auteur protège, c’est notre liberté, notre information libre, notre création culturelle qui sont reconnues. Je suis fier que la France ait été à la pointe de ce combat. — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 12, 2018

A great day for culture and music in #europe as the #copyrightdirective is adopted by @Europarl_EN including #article13 – thank you #MEPs from all parties for your energetic and highly engaged approach to this very sensitive and important legislation. — Paul Pacifico (@allstarspaul) September 12, 2018

https://twitter.com/andyedwardsbiz/status/1039841898016456707

@basca yes yes yes yes yes! Amazing news for the future of creativity and the sovereignty of democratic process. I’m stunned. Thanks to @Europarl_EN @AxelVossMdEP @GabrielMariya et all for your belief in fairness. https://t.co/xfinSHLgUU — Crispin Hunt (@crispinhunt) September 12, 2018

What a fantastic day for creators & the UK Music industry as #Article13 has been approved by 438 votes to 226! The EU Copyright Directive is ADOPTED by the European Parliament. Publishers rights & platform liability for copyrighted content are in the text. https://t.co/1JAy8VQDjG — MPA (@the_MPA) September 12, 2018

ARTICLE 13 CRITICS

BREAKING: Worst possible outcome in the European Parliament copyright vote: MEPs vote for #uploadfilters , #linktax, a narrow #TDM exception for data-mining, no #freedomofpanorama—plus a new IP right for sports organizers. — EFF (@EFF) September 12, 2018

In case you're wondering: the #EU just voted to impose filters on all the text, audio, photos, videos, etc you might post. If you think this will help photographers or other creators, you don't understand filters. — son of an asylum seeker, father of an immigrant (@doctorow) September 12, 2018

Worst possible outcome on #copyright vote in European Parliament just now: article 13 adopted, no TDM exemption, etc. We tried…. — Marietje Schaake (@MarietjeSchaake) September 12, 2018

EU Parliament just voted in favor of the most harmful pieces of the © directive: #Article13 #Censorshipmachines and #Article11 #linktax. The last line of defense against these terrible provisions will be the Member States. #SaveYourInternet — Creative Commons (@creativecommons) September 12, 2018

Parliament voted for the #LinkTax 393:279 and for #UploadFilters 366:297. The first vote in July was similarly close, so things can still change until the final vote in spring, if we keep up the pressure! #SaveYourInternet — Julia Reda (@Senficon) September 12, 2018

The EP rejected expert tech evidence and academic analysis and have adopted article 11 and article 13 in the mandate for negotiations ahead of the trilogues. This is one of the last final steps – now it's up to the Member States to fight EU censorship in name of copyright. — Ásta Helgadóttir (@asta_fish) September 12, 2018

AND FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION…

#Eplenary vote today is huge step closer to adopt balanced EU #copyright reform – modernise rules for digital times, respect freedom of expression & ensure EU #creators get fairly remunerated. W/ @GabrielMariya, I look forward to starting trilogue negotiations @EU2018AT @EP_Legal — Andrus Ansip (@Ansip_EU) September 12, 2018

Stuart Dredge