The European Commission presented a plan today (14 September) to charge internet companies for linking to online news following a heated, two-year-long fight over whether the “Google tax” will help publishers stay profitable—or simply be overzealous regulation that could “break the internet”.
“I want journalists, publishers and authors to be paid fairly for their work, whether it is made in studios or living rooms, whether it is disseminated offline or online, whether it is published via a copying machine or commercially hyperlinked on the web.” – President Juncker, State of the Union 2016
The European Commission’s proposals to reform the region’s copyright rules, published in draft form today, have been criticized by tech companies and digital rights groups as regressive and a missed opportunity to modernize hopelessly outdated rules.