In Europe, the EU’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) voted in favor of several new amendments to the Copyright Directive, which was originally adopted by European Parliament in 2001. The amendments contain, among other things, two provisions entitled Article 11 and Article 13, respectively.
Article 11 would essentially impose a "link tax" - yes, you read that right - that would require online platforms like Facebook and Google to buy licenses from media companies before linking to their stories.
Article 13 would require large platforms like Facebook and Reddit to introduce filters to flag copyrighted material that is uploaded by their users. The companies would have to prevent such content from being published. Currently in the EU, internets sites observe a notice and take down regime. In other words, if a creator notices his or her copyrighted content is being posted without permission, then the internet site is required to take the infringing content down upon notice from the creator/rights holder. This is similar to the practice in the United States.
ANALYSIS: The European Parliament has to vote on JURI recommendation. Currently, there is no date set for that vote. These amendments have big implications for any business that hosts third party content and creators who are users of such sites. While these rules have no immediate applicability in the United States, this issue is worth watching.