Our statement celebrating another big step for #Article13 and expressing our *ahem* sentiments about the big tech misinformation campaign about it.

Artist Rights Alliance Applauds EU’s Article 13 Copyright Reform Agreement

The Artist Rights Alliance released the following statement in support of the final agreement on Article 13 reached by European negotiators:

“We applaud European negotiators for reaching a final agreement on Article 13 and look forward to final approval by the European Parliament and implementation by member states.

“Article 13 represents an understanding of today’s internet grounded in reality: internet companies who otherwise claim to be innovators should not be able to hide behind phony claims of helplessness when it comes to protecting music and other creative works. These companies are pioneers — cataloging the entire internet, perfecting facial recognition technologies, mapping nearly every road and alley, and tracking and indexing each person’s internet activity. But because they profit from unlicensed use of music, when it comes to protecting our art, identifying and removing unlicensed uses of our works, and proactively preventing such unlicensed uses, those companies’ can-do attitude mysteriously disappears.

“They must and can do more. Being a responsible participant in the Internet ecosystem requires no less.

“We applaud the European Parliament for refusing to yield to misleading, pressure campaigns carrying even more misleading messages and dire warnings seemingly drafted by Chicken Little. The truth is that the internet is now and has been broken for music creators and other artists. It was broken by outdated rules and by the devil-may-care approach of Internet companies.

“This is a critical step forward towards a better Internet that works better for artists. We hope U.S. policymakers take note and act as well.”

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