Article 13

of the amended European Union Copyright Directive requires the impossible, namely that commercial sites and apps where users can post material must make “best efforts” to preemptively buy licenses for anything copyrighted that users may possibly upload.

Instead, these sites will do everything in their power to prevent anything from ever going online that may be an unauthorized copy of a work that a rightsholder has registered with the platform by using upload filters. Because of liability for infringements and to stay on the safe side, it is expected that platforms will over-comply with these rules, thus limiting the freedom of speech, i.e., expression.

The amended Copyright Directive will be voted on at the European Parliament on Tuesday next week. Therefore massive protest rallies, particularly against article 13, in all major German cities today. Here in Freiburg, the participants of a protest march assembled at the Square of the Old Synagogue, with Red Baron being possibly the oldest attendee. But having lived through the beginning of the Internet at CERN 25 years ago, I felt obliged to protest as an old man.

A soft start of the rally: Understand the Internet before. You destroy it.

Axel Voss, the German CDU deputy of the European Parliament.
Did he start the Internet war?

Voss again mocked by a pun Vollvossten, i.e., rather Vollpfosten, meaning a dipstick.

Charming: The Internet stays as it is.

AGAINST the reform of the copyright and its unfeasibility
FOR copyright, the right of citation, and fair remuneration of authors.

The speeches

An impressive crowd of young people

P.S.: The European Parliament passed the controversial amendment to the Copyright Directive on March 26.

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