EU Copyright Directive compromise rejected by 11 countries

Copyright Directive and accompanying regulation unlikely to be passed before May's European elections

Negotiations scheduled today over the European Union's Copyright Directive have been shelved as 11 member states now line-up in opposition to the proposed overhaul of the copyright regime across the EU.

Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Slovenia, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Croatia, Luxembourg and Portugal voted against a compromise text proposed by Romanian diplomats last week and, with so many countries lining up to block the proposal in its current form, talks have been put off.

The European Commission claims that EU copyright rules are in need of modernisation "fit for the digital age". The rules would be updated via both the Directive and a regulation - an EU edict that is implemented and enforced directly into member states' laws.

The Commission claims that the new copyright rules will make it easier for copyrighted materials to be used in education, research and what it calls "cultural heritage". However, opponents of the Copyright Directive claim that the new rules will come at the cost of individual online rights, and will ratchet up online censorship and control.

Google has been particularly active in lobbying against the proposed Directive. It claims that Article 11 of the Copyright Directive would create a ‘link tax' obliging search engines providing summaries of content to pay the sites for the privilege.

Article 13, meanwhile, has been characterised as an ‘attack on memes' because it would oblige internet companies - not just search engines but any online service enabling users to post content - to rigorously police user-generated content for any copyright-infringing material.

The opposition of at least 11 countries to the copyright proposals now make it unlikely that the new rules will be passed by March and, hence, won't be in place in time for May's European elections.