*Breaking news - EU Council adopts new Copyright Directive*

Following the vote in the EU Parliament on 26 March 2019, today the EU Council has adopted the latest text of the new Copyright Directive which aims to make the legal framework on copyright fit-for-purpose in the digital age. Following the signature and publication of the Directive in the Official Journal of the EU, member states will have 24 months to transpose the new rules into their national law.

Following the vote in the EU Parliament on 26 March 2019 (see our previous blog on this - Tears of joy or tears of sorrow? European Parliament approves biggest overhaul in copyright law in 20 years), today, the EU Council has adopted the latest text of the new EU Copyright Directive which aims to make the legal framework on copyright fit-for-purpose in the digital age. The EU Council published a Press Release this morning confirming the news. Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden voted against the Directive but that was not sufficient to block it, though it does show the lack of support the Directive continues to generate.   

Next steps

Following the signature and publication of the Copyright Directive in the EU Official Journal, the Directive will enter into force and Member States will then have 24 months to transpose the new rules into their national law. The 24 month transposition period begins 20 days after publication in the Official Journal. The UK IPO recently confirmed that the UK government may not now implement the new copyright law and a spokesperson for the IPO is reported to have said that UK implementation of the Copyright Directive will be dictated by the outcome of the current Brexit process.

We will be sure to keep you updated on the publication in the Official Journal and on any news in relation to the UK's implementation, or not, of the Copyright Directive into UK law.