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The definitive case against the link tax

Have you ever wondered how the link tax came to be? Our friends at IGEL have put together a primer on everything you could ever want to know about this disastrous copywrong.

Here at OpenMedia we’re certain that ancillary copyright – AKA: the link tax – wins the dubious honour of worst copyright idea of 2016. But it got its start long before it became a hot topic of discussion in the European Commission’s Copyright Directive.

In fact, the link tax has a storied history of being a failed policy – first in Germany and then in Spain. Along with our partners at The Initiative Against Ancillary Copyright (IGEL), we’ve put together this primer that gives background on how this policy came to be: who pushed for it and why, as well as how the policy will impact Internet users, innovators, and news publishers.

As Dr. Till Kreutzer, the report’s author, succinctly describes our predicament:

Anyone, who takes an interest in innovative online journalism, the (European) Internet economy or technical innovations as such, should stand up against these proposals.

You can read the full report below or download it here.

 

If you haven’t joined the Save the Link network yet – now is the time. We’ll be working to kill the link tax in European Parliament, defending the hyperlink for future use.

 


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