Thread: Links in time of the "Copyright Directive EU 2021"?

  1. #1
    Forums Member PhillyG's Avatar
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    Links in time of the "Copyright Directive EU 2021"?

    This technical question is directed at other fellow forum-members from the EU.

    In 2021 the EU states have to implement the "Copyright Directive EU 2021". It basically makes the operator of a website like Youtube or forums responsible, if their users/members violate the copyright by implementing or citing material that may violate the copyright. (For instance a YouTube Video)
    See: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techt...n-and-privacy/

    Here in Germany it raised a lot of confusion if you can still post freely music videos, speeches or longer quotes from a book in a forum, twitter etc..

    Is it okay to implement videos of music speeches in threads of this forum if you're from the EU?

    PS: As you may have guessed I'm still a newby at participating in forums and other forms of social media.

  2. #2
    Technical Administrator woodscooter's Avatar
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    It's a question that doesn't have a clearly defined answer.

    Buddhism Without Boundaries has administration based in the United Kingdom and a server in London. How does law made by EU member countries apply in the UK?

    The music videos on Buddhism Without Boundaries consist of a URL link to YouTube. So the music video is coming from YouTube. Who is the provider, BWB or YT?

    If YouTube decide that showing a particular video is breaching copyright, they will remove the video, and a click on our URL link to the video will show "This video is no longer available".

    Therefore while any video is OK on YouTube, it's OK to link to it on the BWB website.


    Turning now to consider quotations from written material, there are exemptions in all copyright laws which allow quotation and discussion of copyright material.

    There's no violation of copyright if you reproduce some of the material (as a rule of thumb I would say no more than 5% of an article), and if when quoting you provide a citation. That means giving the author's name and the title of the piece you got it from. If possible, add a URL link to the source, too.

    In most cases, the original author will be pleased that his/her work is being used in discussion, and the citation confirms that no-one is blatantly claiming the words as their own.

    The internet contains a mixture of copyright and public-domain material, and it's not always possible to tell the difference. Some works contain a copyright statement at the end, but it's still perfectly acceptable to quote small parts of these as long as the citation is given.

    When quoting from the Pali Canon, which is clearly non-copyright, please give always the name and a URL link to the source of what's being quoted. This is not for copyright reasons, it's just to be clear what you are saying and it allows readers to see more about the context that the words came from and to see which translator has written it.

    Please also check number 3a,3b, and3c in our Code of Conduct for the Buddhism Without Boundaries website.

    I don't think that the EU Copyright Directive will have much effect on this website, as we strive to be respectful of the rights of copyright owners at all times.

    Woodscooter.

  3. #3
    Thanks for explaining this yesterday, Woodscooter, and also for mentioning the guidelines in the Code of Conduct for the website.

  4. #4
    Forums Member PhillyG's Avatar
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    Thank you woodscooter and Aloka for the quick response.

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