While the few supporters say that these laws are supposed to help creators, creators have a different take. They are saying that they will continue to fight it.
We are now 5 days since the devastating news that Europe passed the open internet killing laws known as Article 11 and article 13/17. Supporters of the law have long argued that these laws are about “levelling the playing field” and ensuring artists get “paid”. If they are to be believed, creators should be celebrating right now. Naturally, this is not the case.
Many observers have long pointed out that the laws actually put creators at risk. This is thanks to false positives and a reduction in choice of where they can post their material online. Platforms that engage in alternative payment models are now facing serious legal uncertainty with these laws. That, in turn, discourages creator activity. In fact, many European creators reacted to the law with the realization that their future may have an expiration date on the horizon as money is about to dry up.
So, it comes as no surprise that creators are vowing to continue to fight these laws. For many, being a creator is a life long dream come true. While the odds may be steep, many are not exactly giving up the fight. The Verge is documenting some accounts of the situation:
For months, YouTube creators have been trying to warn viewers about the ramifications of Europe’s new copyright directive. And after an EU vote approved the directive, one of the most vocal activists leading a charge against the directive, Dr. Grandayy, says it’s time for YouTubers to get serious about copyright activism.
“The reaction of YouTubers has been virtually unanimous against Article 13,” Grandayy, a creator with more than 2 million subscribers who is best known for his memes, told The Verge. “The sad thing is that us YouTubers have no lobby groups or unions that can fight for us and speak to politicians directly for us. Most politicians have no idea about the troubles YouTubers face with copyright, or what type of content the typical YouTuber even produces.”
Philip DeFranco, one of the platform’s most popular commentators, addressed the vote on his episode of The Philip DeFranco Show. DeFranco suggested that if “YouTube is now the company that’s going to take the monetary hit, you can be damn sure they’re going to protect themselves.” DeFranco added that “it’s not surprising” that if someone — whether it be the European Union or a specific company — were to go after YouTube, the company would just start “blocking content.”
“If it created a situation where my videos might get taken down because of some law in the EU, I’m just going to block my content from the EU,” DeFranco said. “I wouldn’t want to, but that would be my new reality.”
Of course, fighting these laws is going to be an extremely difficult thing to do at this stage. The next stage for these laws is to take them to individual countries for ratification. As we’ve noted yesterday, France, for its part, announced that it would put these laws into place quickly. They even went further by announcing that the notorious governmental organization, HADOPI, would administer and “supervise” the deployment of filtering technology. They went even further by suggesting that websites who don’t comply will be blacklisted. All of this, of course, is an absolute nightmare for digital rights advocates and users alike.
Another option many are throwing around now is to simply unseat all those who supported the passage of this law. So, many are turning to data on vote breakdowns to determine whether or not they want to support their MEP. Those elections are scheduled for May between the 23rd and 26th.
At this point, creators fighting this law have an uphill battle on their hands. Of course, what choice do they have? Their futures are at stake at this point.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.
