The following statement is attributed to Evan Engstrom, Executive Director of Engine, regarding the European Parliament’s vote to adopt the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market:
“Today’s sweeping overhaul of copyright rules will hurt startups and small businesses across Europe and throughout the world. Despite opposition from millions of Internet users and thousands of startups, policymakers nonetheless ignored the will of their constituents over the two-year process and dramatically changed the European Union’s copyright policy for the worse.
Provisions within the directive—most notably Article 17, which was formerly known as Article 13—will force startups and other platforms to use expensive and ineffective content moderation tools to police user-uploaded content. This directive will curtail innovation across the European Union and beyond by creating unreasonable obligations for any platform that hosts third-party content. The impact of the directive is likely to be felt across the world, as startups and small businesses, in particular, will have to reimagine their global presence.”
