The European Parliament has backed legislation which many say could change the internet as we know it.
The new copyright law which has now been backed by the EU – Article 13 – intends to protect those who upload their material and content online.
The vote was backed by 348 Members of the European Parliament against 278.
Under the new law, large technology companies will be held accountable for material- such as user-generated content – which is published without a copyright license.
While many musicians and creators have welcomed Article 13, digital rights campaigners have stated that the new law will demand that “all content uploaded to the internet to be monitored and potentially deleted if a likeness to existing copyright is protected”.
YouTube has previously said Article 13 could see the tech giant prevent millions of people from uploading videos on their platform.
When the Article was first proposed, many were concerned about the future of memes but the European Parliament has stated that memes will be “specifically excluded” from the proposed law.
It is now up to twenty-eight of the member states of the European Union to approve the law but it still remains unclear how the law will affect the UK in the wake of Brexit.