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17 ESLJ 1 (2019)

handle is hein.journals/entersport17 and id is 1 raw text is: Spilsbury, S. 2019. Rewriting the Rule Book? The Latest on OT Lthe Draft Copyright Directive. Entertainment and Sports Law Journal, 17: 1, pp.1-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16997/eslj.224 COMMENTARIES Rewriting the Rule Book? The Latest on the Draft Copyright Directive Sallie Spilsbury Manchester Metropolitan University, UK s.spilsbury@mmu.ac.uk The Draft Copyright in the Digital Single Market has been approved by the EU Parliament. This is a commentary on the key provisions which impact on the media and entertainment industries, namely the link tax for digital publication of press publications, the new liability for content on digital sharing platforms and rights for sports event organisers. Keywords: Digital; copyright; media; content sharing; directive Introduction On 12 September 2018, the European Parliament approved the Draft Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (European Commission, 2016). In recent years, there have been several directives that have modernised the scope of copyright and related rights protection to make it fit for purpose in the digital age. For example, there has been the European Council Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society and European Council Directive 96/9/EC on the legal protection of databases. The scope of the current draft Directive is wider. It forms part of the EU's Digital Single Market Strategy for regulation of the business models that have emerged with the development of digital technologies (European Commission, 2015). The Directive is therefore in part an intervention in the commercial relationships between information society service providers and rightsowners and its provisions are likely to have real operational bite if fully implemented. In addition, the Directive has the ambitious policy objective of shoring up sustainable news media across the EU to facilitate citizens' access to reliable online news content, thus providing a counterweight to fake news. This article will consider how the Directive purports to achieve these aims with a focus on Article 11 and 13, which are the provisions which have gener- ated most debate. Article 12a, which gives new rights to sport event organisers, is also considered. These provisions directly engage two of the aims behind the Directive: (i) the fostering of high-quality journalism and (ii) the assurance that creators, and those who invest in the production of content, have a say about whether and on what terms their content should be made available on online platforms. The Directive has already been the subject of fierce lobbying from two opposing camps. On the one hand, the digital tech giants and campaigners for internet freedom oppose what they perceive as censorship and the tighter regulation of online content. On the other hand, rights holders welcome provisions that create revenue streams for use of copy- right works on digital platforms. The tension around this debate caused the EU Parliament to defer approval of the Directive in June 2018. The form of the Directive that was eventually passed by the Parliament in September diluted some of the obligations on digital service providers. It is possible that there will be further dilution as the Directive is negotiated (and lobbied) through the next stages of the legislative process. At an official press conference held just after the Directive had been approved it was heralded as a major step forward in making the internet a fair place for the so-called 'crown jewels' of Europe - namely, the creators and authors and associated industries. Yet it was also stressed that the Directive was not seeking confrontation with internet platform operators and there was no intention of impos- ing mandatory filters or censorship. Keeping both camps happy will be a delicate balance. As will be explored below, the mechanisms by which crucial provisions of the Directive will be implemented have been kept fluid and important provisions have been left for future dialogue between stakeholders. To that extent some of the points of tension have been circumvented, at least in the short term. Article 11 - A Link Tax on News? Article 11 requires information society service providers to pay 'fair and proportionate' remuneration to publishers of press publications for making their publications available to the public by digital means. This is achieved by new reproduction and digital communication rights for press publishers, which will last for 5 years from publication of the

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