Image for Why Article 19’s Right to Share principles matter for free expression

Why Article 19’s Right to Share principles matter for free expression

The Internet is a fantastic tool for innovation and free expression - but this can be threatened by overly restrictive copyright enforcement. Tell us what a fair copyright policy should look like - speak out in the comments and at https://OpenMedia.org/crowdsource

Article by Gabrielle Guillemin for Article 19

A free and open internet is essential to foster speech, encourage democracy through activism, and inspire creativity and innovation. However, copyright enforcement threatens many of the benefits that can be gained from such a powerful tool for free expression and creativity. We must not allow this to happen. Progress must not be shackled to the legal frameworks of the last century.

With its ability to make copies available across borders on an unprecedented scale and at minimal cost, the Internet sent shockwaves to the copyright world. Here was a medium that escaped the copyright holders’ tightly-controlled monopole over the distribution of copies. Unsurprisingly, they hated it. They saw in it a golden opportunity to make vast amounts of money from every single copy and click of the mouse. This is no exaggeration. In Europe, copyright holders are arguing in multiple fora that various types of linking infringe copyright or that browsing should be subject to copyright authorisation. That’s also how we’ve ended up with copyright holders, with the help of companies such as Apple or Amazon, telling consumers that access to cultural goods on their iPad or Kindle is only going to be licensed to them and that they don’t own it.

But it doesn’t stop here. We’ve also seen the creative industries pushing for increasingly tough enforcement measures, whether through the infamous SOPA legislation in the US or through back-room international trade deals such as Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). The whole gamut of restrictive measures includes criminal penalties for non-commercial sharing and circumvention of Digital Rights Management measures, three-strikes’ laws, website blocking and notice-and-takedown procedures with no meaningful remedy. The list goes on. More often than not, all this takes place behind closed doors despite the serious negative impact these measures have on Internet users’ rights.

Read more at Article 19



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