“New online services such as music streaming, video-on-demand platforms and news aggregators have become very popular, while consumers increasingly expect to access cultural content on the move and across borders”, the European Union said.
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The commission said it wants to address the concerns of artists who see the value of their work plummet once it appears on-line for free. It claims it has paid out over £2.3 billion to the music industry so far.
Responding to the tech industry’s complaint that such regulations will have a negative impact on start-ups and new online services, the EC says that the proposals will only apply when platforms “gain a significant” mass of protected content and that its aim is to create a “level playing field” between subscription services likes Spotify and Apple Music and user-generated services that pay lower revenues to rights holders. It has been lobbying for Brussels to step up its pressure on online music and video providers. European Digital Rights, an association which lobbies for digital freedoms, said the proposed reform “panders to a small number of lobbying interests”.
Google-owned YouTube makes money by selling video advertising and splitting profits between rights owners.
“The proposal exclusively addressed the services, as they are the ones distributing the content and, most importantly, making a profit out of it”, states the Commission. “This would effectively turn the internet into a place where everything uploaded to the web must be cleared by lawyers before it can find an audience”, Caroline Atkinson, Google’s vice president, wrote in a blog post.
The European Commission (EC) proposals would also require platforms to deploy technology that can detect songs or videos which have been requested for removal by rights holders.
“The commission proposes to introduce a new related right for publishers, similar to the right that already exists under European Union law for film producers, record (phonogram) producers and other players in the creative industries like broadcasters”, Juncker said.
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“We believe there’s a better way”, said a spokeswoman for Google.
