European ministers approved the controversial reform of online copyright rules on Monday, paving the way for EU countries to transpose the text into national law.

Italy, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden voted against the measure, while Belgium, Estonia and Slovenia abstained.

Under the rules, tech companies such as Googles YouTube will have to negotiate licensing agreements with rights-holders, including record companies, collecting societies and media companies, to publish their content. They also face new obligations to monitor their sites for any copyright-infringing content and remove any that falls under those licensing deals.

After two and a,half years of controversy, the European Parliaments plenary session also voted in favor of the text in late March.

The German minister gave a leRead More – Source

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