The Council of the EEU announced on Monday that it has adopted a new set of copyright laws that holds online platforms liable for user uploaded content.

The law was adopted by the European Council on Monday after it was approved by the European Parliament last month.

The directive introduces a new right for press publishers for the online use of their publication. “Authors of works incorporated in the press publication will be entitled to a share of the press publisher’s revenue deriving from this new right.”

Additionally, the rules clarify the legal framework within which online sharing platforms, such as Facebook and Google, operate.

Such platforms will in principle have to obtain a license for copyright protected works uploaded by users unless a number of conditions provided for in the directive are met. Right-holders will therefore be able to better negotiate the conditions of the exploitation of their online works and be remunerated for the online use of their content by these platforms.

Still, the directive allows users to generate and upload content freely for purposes of quotation, criticism, review, caricature, parody and pastiche.

Following the signature and publication of the directive in the Official Journal of the EU, member states will have 24 months to enact the new rules into their national law.