The political agreement reached this week on a new law will leave a positive impact on everybody who uses the internet and will ensure that creators and artists receive fair remuneration, PN MEP Francis Zammit Dimech said.

"This will enable them to continue producing content for us to enjoy. It will also offer new opportunities for young artists to grow and thrive online while safeguarding journalists jobs, as well as facilitating the life of teachers and researchers. This is an important step to preserve our historical and cultural heritage. I am proud to have given my support to this new law in the interest of Maltese stakeholders, after wide consultations held with them."

MEP Francis Zammit Dimech, a member of the Legal Affairs Committee, made these comments after political agreement on a new law which will regulate the use of content online was reached.

Through this law, musicians, performers and authors will be able to negotiate their remuneration for the use of their work to be used or appear on online platforms, such as YouTube and Facebook. Zammit Dimech said that many Maltese artists spoke with him about the problem of unfair remuneration for their work. "I will continue to insist that Maltese YouTubers are paid for their work which is uploaded online," added Zammit Dimech.

This law will also facilitate the use of publications and data content available online for research purposes (text and data mining), a measure which research centers and universities will benefit from.

Zammit Dimech said that this is an important step to strengthen research. He also reiterated the need for more financial investment in research as Malta is not faring well in this sector. This law will also be beneficial for education, as students and teachers are able to make use of illustrations for educational purposes as well as for online courses, he said.

"This law will allow the digital preservation of cultural heritage located in museums and archives. Our country has a great heritage and this law offers opportunities to preserve such heritage for generations to come."

"This law also ensure journalism of the highest quality, as they will now have the right to receive fair compensation for use of their online publications. There will be no tax or payment to share links with others, with a personal text or a short quote from that online link on platforms such as Facebook."

"The way that this new law is designed will ensure that there is no impact on freedom of expression. Contrary to some misgivings, memes will not be affected, as we can continue to enjoy them, including political satire. If any content is removed from the Internet without a valid justification, such decision can now be challenged through a specific mechanism."

The agreed text must now be formally confirmed by the European Parliament and the Council. Once confirmed and published on the Official Journal of the EU, the Member States will have 24 months to transpose the new rules into their national legislation.