The negotiations of the new EU copyright directive are coming to a close. The parliamentary committee for Legal Affairs (JURI) will vote on the directive on 20-21 June 2018. Since JURI is the main committee for this directive, the result of their vote will be the official recommendation for the European Parliament, when they vote about the directive at a later date.
Free Software Foundation (FSFE) and OpenForum Europe (OFE) have researched how the proposed directive may affect free and open source software, and the communities that develop them:
The proposed Copyright Directive has the clear potential to harm Europe’s competitiveness and growth in this area. Importantly, it could also restrict important fundamental rights of developers and internet users, without achieving a proportionate benefit. In particular, the proposed Article 13 could create barriers for the development of source code by imposing liability on platforms used by developers, harming a sector fundamental for the Digital Single Market. Therefore, both OFE and the FSFE consider that the proposed Article 13 should be redrafted in order to be consistent with the existing legal framework around intermediary liability, as established by the e-Commerce Directive.
The 5th of July Foundation has today signed the #SaveCodeShare open letter, which will be handed over to members of the EU parliament before the vote.
Sign the open letter here:
Read more about the proposed Copyright Directive over at Julia Reda:
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