New EU copyright proposal to help musicians fight piracy

The EU executive branch is expected to propose a range of copyright reforms this week, including a legislative proposal intended to help musicians and their record labels fight piracy in the industry.

For many years, the music industry has had a conflicted relationship with streaming services offering free music, such as YouTube. The new proposal from the EU means the streaming services must enforce their ability to fight piracy.

Music executives have said the proposal is “a step in the right direction”.

As a part of the new copyright proposals, the EU executive branch is also looking at the possibility of letting publishers seek remuneration for news services, such as Google, listing snippets of their articles in the search results.