Governments speak out against copyright reform

The governments of Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland have unsuccessfully tried to block changes to EU copyright laws, calling them “a step back”.

As expected, in a vote on 20 February a majority of EU government representatives endorsed a highly controversial copyright agreement that was reached in trilogue negotiations between the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU earlier this month.

But the dissenting quintet published a joint statement later that day, saying that they did not support the agreement. Its objectives to stimulate innovation, creativity and investment in digital content were good ones, they said, and EU legislation does need updating, but the agreement “fails to deliver”.