EU Thumbs Down on Copyright Reform

So far, so good, on news with the EU Copyright Reform (EU CR).

The Globe Post - Parliament rejected the bill in a 318 to 278 vote. 31 lawmakers abstained.

The European Parliament voted against a proposed controversial legislation that would require internet companies and users to take more extensive measures to prevent copyright infringement, a bill that was denounced as a threat to internet freedom.

As is "the devil is in the details", the EU copyright reform is overflowing with the devil, especially with Article 11 and Article 13.

Why is this legislation important? Had it been approved, I don't think it would have crushed news aggregators, blogs, social media and others that reproduce copyrighted material. It would have made what now is a relatively simple and fair concept into a deeply tangled mess.

While there is the component of this being a U.S./EU copyright issue, the much bigger elephant to tackle - and really, it can't be - are electronic file formats.

Had the proposed EU Copyright Reform passed, it would have created a mountain of problems, the least severe being reproducing copyrighted text. Text is text. Far more unmanageable is regulating a myriad of electronic file formats.

One example from the failed EU CR is its lack of definition in licensing copyrighted material. ArsTechnia:

...the [EU CR] proposed law does not explain how [licensing] could be done for fragmented markets where there is no single licensing body. Alternatively, online services must "prevent the availability on their services of works or other subject-matter identified by rightsholders."

Image: CDev

This is nothing new, though. Ask the music industry about their track record regarding licensing and copyright. They've been trying to define and figure it out for decades.

Th EU CR is not a dead issue. The EU Parliament will revive this copyright reform in a few months. CDRinfo: 

Parliament's position will now be up for debate, amendment, and a vote during the next plenary session, in September.

Technology consistently out-paces attempts of its regulation and law. This will never change.

The EU cannot define what it wants to define. I'm not sure any type of government, coalition or organization can do what the EU is attempting. At least it isn't the UN sticking its finger in this pie. The EU CR was thankfully voted down. I don't think they're going to figure it out come September either.