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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday November 11 2018, @12:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the taxing-the-legend-of-zelda dept.

The Creative Commons, the international non-profit devoted to expanding the range of creative works available legally, summarizes how the EU's proposed link tax would still harm Creative Commons licensors. The proposed Copyright Directive legislation entered the final rounds of negotiation back in September, retaining the problematic articles that raised hackles earlier this year, notably articles 11, 12, and 13. The Creative Commons discusses the current stat of article 11, known informally as the link tax.

Article 11 is ill-suited to address the challenges in supporting quality journalism, and it will further decrease competition and innovation in news delivery. Spain and Germany have already experimented with similar versions of this rule, and neither resulted in increased revenues for publishers. Instead, it likely decreased the visibility (and by extension, revenues) of published content—exactly the opposite of what was intended. Just last week a coalition of small- and medium-sized publishers sent a letter to the trilogue negotiators outlining how they will be harmed if Article 11 is adopted.

Not only is a link tax bad for business, it would undermine the intention of authors who wish to share without additional strings attached, such as creators who want to share works under open licenses. This could be especially harmful to Creative Commons licensors if it means that remuneration must be granted notwithstanding the terms of the CC license. This interpretation is not far-flung. As IGEL wrote last week, [...]

Previously on SN:
Secretive EU Copyright Negotiations Started Tuesday: Here's Where We Stand
EU Copyright Directive Passes; "Terrorist Content" Regulation Proposed; Astroturfing?
How The EU May Be About To Kill The Public Domain: Copyright Filters Takedown Beethoven
European Copyright Law Isn't Great. It Could Soon Get a Lot Worse


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by RandomFactor on Sunday November 11 2018, @02:32PM

    by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 11 2018, @02:32PM (#760640) Journal

    I don't particularly care if they impose a link tax. Have at it. So long as it isn't another submarine mechanism that imposes obligations after the fact that you didn't realize at the time.
    (Yes, I am aware this is essentially the opposite of what is desired by those proposing this)
     
    This requires a NEW MECHANISM. One that allows at least referrers, and preferably also users and browsers to seamlessly identify, filter or select taxed links.
     
    e.g. a URL mechanism/extension. HTTTPS://somepublisher.story.withlinktax.com or whatever (I'm sure HTML coders are spitting at their screen, it's just an example...)
     
    Get it adopted as a standard.
     
    Publishers could chose which method to use or provide under both. If the content was compelling, or provided other benefits (like no ADs), people would happily follow the taxable links and demand them of their search engines. If referrers such as the Goog were able to make money on the link taxed links, they would provide them.

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