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Status: 03.02.2021 3:12 pm
The federal government wants to reform copyright law to meet the requirements of the digital world. To this end, the cabinet has launched a bill. However, the bill is controversial among consumer advocates.
The federal government has launched the controversial bill to revise the copyright law. The cabinet approved the plans, as announced by the Federal Ministry of Justice in Berlin. Now the Bundestag and the Bundesrat have to deal with that.
The reform aims to define the legal relationship between authors, Internet platforms and users, for example when uploading photos protected by copyright, sharing articles or video clips. By June, Germany should have already adopted the relevant EU directives transposed into national law.
“The biggest reform of the last 20 years”
Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht spoke after the decision of “the largest European copyright reform in the last 20 years”. The draft foresees a fair balance of interests that would benefit creatives, rights exploiters and users alike.
The project is controversial on individual points among representatives from many sides. The media and music industry, for example, sees loopholes that could hurt rights holders, while creatives worry about user rights and the use of upload filters. Network platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and company also criticize the legal uncertainties.
Consumer advocates and the left have also harshly criticized the new law. The draft increases the responsibility of platforms such as YouTube and Facebook for copyrighted content and strengthens the rights of authors, explained the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv). However, “user rights are neglected,” explained Klaus Müller, a member of the board of vzbv. The government had tried to limit the “negative effects of upload filters” on users, but strong user rights were the most important instrument for this and that was to ignore the policy. A balance of interests between platforms, rights holders and users can only be achieved through strong user rights.
The Federal Council has yet to agree
The bill will now be sent to the Federal Council for its opinion. It will then be discussed in the Bundestag. “The guidelines will be implemented in German law before June 7, 2021,” said the Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.
With information from Kristin Becker, ARD capital study.
