Redefining online communication : users’ digital rights and the EU directive on copyright in the digital single market

Abstract

This dissertation reviews the Copyright Directive’s most controversial aspects which are Article 15: Protection of press publications concerning online uses and Article 17: Use of protected content by online content-sharing service providers. The paper analyses the possible consequences and impacts of the Directive on online users. Although the legislation is still in the transposition period, the author of this dissertation attempted to predict the effects that these provisions will have on the regular Internet user by critically analysing the concerns of critics and past occurrences of similar legislation in EU countries. General users are not greatly considered when it comes to copyright legislation since the focus has always been on the protection of the authors and content creators. Hence, this study brings light to the perspective of online users. The text explores the background of copyright and how the Internet and digital world has affected the copyright laws. With the introduction of the Internet, the copyright framework was definitely challenged and had to be modernised in order to keep up with the times. The European Union made sure that the Copyright Directive is ‘future-proof; meaning that it would not be bound by future developments in technology. Moreover, new copyright laws were necessary because of the lack of right holder’s protection and excessive exploitation. Subsequently, the previously mentioned articles were explored in depth. In addition to this, analysis of the provisions’ evolution, from drafting stage to enacted versions, was given, and the impact on the industry and online users was discussed. The main effects that were pointed out during the research were the following; Article 15 would probably force online platforms to cease their services in European countries with the consequence of lack of visibility and deprivation of access to information for the Internet users. Furthermore, Article 17 would threaten the fundamental rights and freedoms of the online users. This research concludes that although the European Union’s intentions while creating this Copyright Directive was genuine and positive, there is still a valid possibility that the latter will have a negative impact on the online users’ digital rights. It is hoped that this study will inform researchers and scholars in hopes of further exploring the topic and possibly, have a retrospective point of view of this Directive’ impacts.