Tech Giants Are Stronger Than Paul McCartney
The EU scuttles a copyright law, backed by the Beatle, that would have required social media sites to pay for content.
Paul McCartney also has strong views on copyright law.
Photographer:Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP/Getty Images
The European Parliament’s rejection of new copyright rules shows how difficult it is for regulators to compel the tech industry to pay for content that it uses for free.
The parliament voted Thursday to send a draft Copyright Directive back to the drawing board; a new version will be debated in September. The decision is a disappointment for Paul McCartney, who had urged legislators to pass the measure. It also represents a missed opportunity for news organizations, which would have received a license fee from social media sites. But the vote was a cause for celebration for the bill’s opponents, notably Wikipedia, whose Italian and Spanish editions had gone dark to protest the proposed rules.