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#DigitalCopyright proposals a 'lose-lose' for news organizations

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Pixeled Copyright sign illustration on digital screen, 3d renderConservative MEPs have expressed concern over aspects of new digital copyright proposals which they fear could drive some news aggregators and online retailers out of business.

Plans published today by the European Commission would force news aggregators and online search engines to pay media outlets for news stories they display.

However, Conservative Legal Affairs spokesman Sajjad Karim MEP, believes it will lead to a lose-lose situation.

He explained: "This is a tried and failed policy, which did not work in Germany or Spain.

"If news aggregators and search engines such as Google are forced to pay smaller news outlets to publicize and drive traffic to their material, big news outlets which are in a position to waive the fees would squeeze out smaller aspiring writers and dominate the market".

"This simply makes it even harder for smaller news outlets and writers to have their work searched for and found online.”

Another concern is that the Commission proposals could make online retailers such as eBay and Etsy legally liable for products sold by their users. At present so-called intermediaries do not have this obligation under the E-Commerce Directive.

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Internal Market spokesman Vicky Ford MEP said: "This legislation has been in place for over a decade and has enabled the evolution of  internet trading. It is extremely important that there is legal clarity about who is responsible for what.  Whist the Commission is right to look at ways to fix specific issues for music and digital content, if we reopen the whole debate on intermediary liability for all types of  platforms it will create huge uncertainty, which could harm innovation and may drive small online traders out of business."

Other aspects of the proposals have been welcomed by Conservative MEPs, including improving access for blind and visually impaired people to online books and other cultural content and exempting scientific researchers, schools and universities from the copyright regulations to encourage innovation.

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