European Union Copyright Directive

BERLIN — A spectre is haunting the European music business:  The 2019 European Union Copyright Directive, intended to give creators and rightsholders more power to control the use of their content on online platforms, could instead create another set of problems. One of the pillars of the Copyright Directive was a provision that would hold online platforms responsible for unlicensed copyrighted material uploaded by users. In May, however, Germany passed a law implementing the directive with an exception that classified clips of under 15 seconds shared on online platforms like YouTube as “minor use,” presumptively allowing the use of the material without a license unless copyright holders specifically objected. Although the German law is contrary to both the text and the intention of t...