A new copyright directive has been approved by members of the European Parliament, including articles 11 and 13 which have caused controversy across Europe and which might dramatically change Europe's online media landscape.

The draft of the directive, which the European Commission said should drag the European Union into the 21st century and ensure that content makers producing music, films, and news articles are paid for their work, had kicked off one of the biggest lobbying wars ever seen in Brussels, pitting large media companies versus tech giants and advocates for freedom of the Internet.

The new legislation has been changed from July, when the first draft of the new copyright directive had been voted down. But its critics say it still remains problematic in its present form.

The parliament stated on its website that it adopted its revised negotiating position on copyright rules, including new safeguards to protect small companies and freedom of speech. Parliament’s position for talks with EU member countries to hammer out a final deal was approved on Wednesday by 438 votes to 226, with 39 abstentions.

Although many musicians and authors say that reforms to copyright laws are necessary to fairly compensate artists in the age of music streaming services and e-books, the bill’s opponents fear that the plans could destroy online user-generated content, like memes and parodies.

MEPs voted on a series of changes to the original directive, including articles 11 and 13, which both stirred up considerable controversy.

Article 11 is designed to force online platforms to pay news organisations for the re-use of their content, by introducing what was dubbed in the media “link tax”, i.e. payments to news organisations for each piece of their content shared via social media or other third-party platforms.

Article 13 puts the onus on web giants like Google and Facebook to take measures to ensure that agreements with copyright holders for the re-use of their work are in place.

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