How Europe Is Rewriting the Rules for Digital Media

If you like watching videos on YouTube or reading news posted on Facebook -- and you happen to live in Europe -- your online experience is in for some changes starting this year. The European Union agreed on Feb. 13 to overhaul its copyright rules for the internet age to ensure fair compensation for artists and publishers. While content creators welcome the effort as overdue and well-intentioned, the law has sparked controversy and could unleash a host of unintended consequences.

The EU is modernizing its copyright rules, some of which date back to 2001 -- before social media or streaming media really took off. The rise of the internet has opened up new audiences to publishers and content creators, but they’ve had difficulty negotiating favorable terms of use for their material with web giants like Alphabet Inc.’s Google. The concern is that companies like Google have profited from displaying content belonging to others -- such as on YouTube -- without paying for the use of the material. The new EU rules are meant to help copyright owners obtain remuneration for their content.