A new regulation, soon to be introduced in the UK, has left some internet users in fear that it could mean the end of memes and gifs.
Critics fear that memes, which often use screenshots or clips from copyrighted material, will no longer be allowed on content-sharing platforms.
The new section, Article 13, is part of the reformed EU Copyright Directive, and requires that platforms to do more to avoid copyright infringement.
The new rules have garnered critics including World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee and co-founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales.
But Ron Moscona, a partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney in London, believes that these fears are unfounded.
鈥淚t is na茂ve to suggest that just because the law requires platforms to take measure against unlawful materials, the internet will cease to be an open forum,鈥� Moscona told 老九品茶Cloud.
鈥淚f it turns out (as campaigners seem to fear) that some platform operators are going to be clumsy in dealing with suspected infringements and that they would block out a great deal of legitimate content posted by their users, competition should drive forward other platforms.鈥�
The legal expert points out that platforms such as聽Twitter and Reddit already have to take steps to remove infringing content from their services when asked to do so.
Article 13 requires the platforms to be more pro-active in taking these infringements down, which campaigners fear will lead platforms to take a heavy-handed approach.
鈥淭his seems to be an exaggerated concern,鈥� explains Moscona. 鈥淚t should not be impossible to handle unlawful materials without throwing the baby with the washing water.
鈥淚n the UK, the law already allows for copyrighted content to be used provided it is a 鈥榗aricature, parody or pastiche鈥� 鈥� which many of the internet鈥檚 most prolific memes could fall under.
鈥淐ampaigners are concerned that online giants will overreact to the statutory requirement by aggressively censoring the internet and removing legitimate content from their platforms.
鈥淭ech giants have all the technology they need and ample resources to deal with the issue of infringing content in a nuanced and responsible way without wielding a sledgehammer.鈥�