YouTube won a legal victory in the EU this week, after the European Court of Justice ruled that the platform and other user generated content-reliant platforms should not be held liable for users uploading infringing content. "As currently stands, operators of online platforms do not, in principle, themselves make a communication to the public of copyright-protected content illegally posted online by users of those platforms" - ECJ ruled. The court added that such platforms can still be held liable however, if they have "specific knowledge that protected content is available illegally" on their platforms, yet refrain "from expeditiously deleting it or blocking access to it".

The European Commission approved the new copyright legislation, passed by the European Parliament last month, that will make online platforms liable for copyright infringement on their sites and force Google, Facebook to pay publishers for news snippets they post online. Nineteen countries representing a majority of the European Union population, including France and Germany, endorsed […]

Controversial new copyright laws have been approved by members of the European Parliament. The legislation had been changed since July when the first version of the copyright directive was voted down. Critics say it remains problematic. Many musicians and creators claim the reforms are necessary to fairly compensate artists. But opponents fear that the plans […]