Universities and Science Minister Chris Skidmore has said the UK will not implement the EU Directive after the country leaves the EU.
Background: The EU Copyright Directive was adopted in April 2019, with the aim to reform copyright rules for the digital age. The directive was strongly opposed by tech giants and advocacy groups due to some provisions (particularly Article 13 of the directive) which require online platforms to take down copyright-infringing content, and are seen to threaten freedom of expression and prevent the use of stills or short videos such as memes and GIFs. Before the directive was adopted, an amendment explicitly excluded memes and other similar content with the purposes of “quotation, criticism, review, caricature, parody and pastiche”. However, this was not sufficient to address the concerns of the critics.
The UK makes a U-turn: When the directive was adopted by the European Council in April 2019, the UK was one of the 19 EU member states to vote in favour of it. The deadline for the directive’s implementation would be 7 June 2021. On 21 January 2020, Universities and Science Minister Chris Skidmore stated that the Government has no plans to implement the Copyright Directive, and that any future changes to the UK copyright framework will be considered as part of the usual domestic policy process.
What this will mean in practice: The Government’s new stance is unlikely to have a disruptive impact in the way copyright works are protected in the UK and in the EU, because of the UK’s participation in international treaties on copyright. Online platforms may refrain from using content filtering systems when showing content to UK users. The UK could now adopt provisions it believes to be more tech-friendly, either in trade agreements or in future legislation it will pass.
