The Digital Copyright Directive: Landmark Or Missed Opportunity?

This April, the relevant EU institutions finalised the controversial Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (the "Directive")¹, which came into force on 7 June 2019. The draft of this legislation has been sitting on the EU's desk for several years and – unlike most other EU law – has also caught the attention of the general public. If you want to know why the Directive is likely relevant for you too, continue reading.

Officially the Directive aimed to adapt the existing allegedly obsolete EU copyright framework to better fit the digital economy. Artists, musicians, publishers, movie studios, record labels, collecting societies and other owners of copyright or related rights especially complained that most of their hard-earned profits go to those participating in the (often illegal) digital sharing of these creative works (the so-called "value gap").