They Sang to Fix Article 13
Last Tuesday CREATE REFRESH organised a Flash Mob Choir with local musicians who sang festive songs with a copyright twist in the fight for a free internet.
Lyrics of popular songs like Jingle Bell Rock, Deck the Hall and Winter Wonderland had been remixed to bring awareness about Article 13 of the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. The European Parliament, Commission, and Council are currently negotiating a final text for Article 13 which MEPs will vote at the beginning of 2019.
To make sure creative expression will never be censored, CREATE REFRESH is asking policymakers to fix Article 13 by removing upload filter obligations, directly or implied, and implement transparent and accountable measures where robots are applied. Without this, Article 13 will restrict creators’ ability to find audiences, build careers online and stifle creative freedom of expression.
If we keep Article 13 as it is now, creators and platforms fear that programs will hold a primary liability on all copyright infringements committed by their users. Filters which may be implemented won’t probably be sophisticated enough to detect whether something is within the realm of fair use, meaning that original content could be automatically deleted without the consent of the user.
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About CREATE REFRESH:
CREATE REFRESH is a network of 100+ artists and creatives, campaigning to defend the open Internet in the EU and stop Article 13. It is supported by a broad coalition of over 35 non-profit organizations and associations such as Open Media, Creative Commons and Open Knowledge, all of which are listed on the website https://createrefresh.eu/en/. Founders include CCIA, Copyright for Creativity, Kennisland and Communia.
Artists and creators from all backgrounds have already shown their support to CREATE REFRESH including former Fugees rapper Wyclef Jean, author Bénédicte Martin, vlogger Joel Morris, DJ, music producer, label owner Ben Gomori, street artists Destructive Creation, and many more.
The campaign is supported by a coalition of diverse organisations from the communication, digital and the not-for-profit sectors, including France Digital, Copyright for Creativity, Kennisland, La Quadrature du net, The Developers Society, Cartoon Network, Wikimedia France, Patreon, and many more.
For a copy of songs’ lyrics and pictures please contact Hannah Sharpe at CREATE REFRESH hannah@createrefresh.eu or Arta Ertekin at ARTouch Media: artouchmedia@gmail.com
