Copyright wrongs

EU's proposed law could shut out small online platforms

The European Union (EU) has just cleared the draft of a new copyright directive, which the European Parliament must vote on in March. Some of the provisions are extremely controversial because they could alter the way in which content is presented on the web. To be sure, at one level, it appears that an attempt has been made to offer strong protection to the rights of copyright holders.  However, the suggested mode of protection could be prohibitively expensive and, therefore, shut out small online platforms. As of now, online platforms protect copyright via a process of safe harbour rules and