On 12 September, the European Parliament voted to approve controversial amendments to the proposed Copyright Directive. If adopted by EU member states (in Council), the changes would create a so-called “link tax” obliging companies such as Google and Facebook to pay publishers for showing news snippets or linking to news stories on other sites. Another adopted amendment would compel platforms such as YouTube to seek licences for content such as music videos, which artists say will allow them to properly negotiate better royalties.
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