North West MEP and Conservative Legal Affairs Spokesman, Sajjad Karim, has welcomed the approval of new EU-wide online copyright rules.
Yesterday, the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, backed a deal negotiated over two-and-a-half years in talks between the European Parliament and the European Council.
The draft Copyright Directive legislation is now expected to be approved by the European Parliament at its Plenary Session next month.
The new legislation ensure that newspapers and other publishers are able to seek compensation if their material is displayed by online news aggregators, such as Google News. Exemption is granted for "very short extracts" but the proposals sparked intensive lobbying by internet companies.
Another clause forces internet platforms such as YouTube to agree licensing deals with artists and other rights holders who seek them. Platforms would be responsible for the appearance of copyrighted content online for which no license had been granted if they could not prove they had made their "best efforts" to prevent it.
Commenting after the vote Sajjad who took part in the negotiations said: "The updated rules will benefit users and rights holders alike, while also stimulating research, science and innovation in areas including artificial intelligence.
"It is important that creators and rights holders are paid fairly for their works on platforms in the digital age. This has been secured by today's vote, while burdens and obligations on smaller platforms will be proportionate.
"I am confident that the Parliament will endorse our agreement during next month's plenary session, securing the future of the UK’s creative sector, which contributes enormously to the economy."