Finnish Parliament approved today a controversial new copyright
legislation, based on European Union’s Copyright Directive (EUCD). The
legislation sparked enormous opposition from worried citizens, but despite
the public critique even in mainstream media, the parties currently in
coalition government decided to approve the legislation without further
modifications.
Legislation has several confusing details and extremely badly worded
chapters, making it one of the most draconian versions of EUCD in Europe.
Once Finland’s president (who has right to veto the law, but the right is
used extremely rarely) approves the legislation, it will come into effect,
typically within few months.
As Finland has traditionally enjoyed quite relaxed copyright legislation,
the change is dramatic. Previously, copying for own personal use (whether
you owned the CD/DVD/book/whatever) was perfectly legal and the authors
were compensated by blank media levy. Now, the blank media levy will remain
in place, but at least the following things will change: