On October 10, EU lawmakers will vote on a proposal to change copyright law, but voices urging for better reforms and already sufacing.

On October 10, the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) will vote on a proposal to change EU copyright law.

According to Mozilla, the outcome "could sabotage freedom and openness online." It could make filtering and blocking online content far more routine, affecting the EU citizens who use the internet everyday.

The EU's current copyright legal framework is outdated. It's a framework created when the postcard, and not the iPhone, was a reigning communication method.

But the EU's proposal to reform this framework - titled "Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market" - could be a step backward.

"Many aspects of the proposal and some amendments put forward in the Parliament are dysfunctional and borderline absurd," says Raegan MacDonald, Mozilla's Senior EU Policy Manager. "The proposal would make filtering and blocking of online content the norm, effectively undermining innovation, competition and freedom of expression."

Under the proposal:

• If the most dangerous amendments pass, everything you put on the internet will be filtered, and even blocked. It doesn't even need to be commercial - some proposals are so broad that even photos you upload for friends and family would be included.
• Linking to and accessing information online is also at stake: extending copyright to cover news snippets will restrict our ability to learn from a diverse selection of sources. Sharing and accessing news online would become more difficult through the so-called "neighbouring right" for press publishers.
• The proposal would remove crucial protections for intermediaries, and would force most online platforms to monitor all content you post - like Wikipedia, eBay, software repositories on Github, or DeviantArt submissions.
• Only scientific research institutions would be allowed to mine text and datasets. This means countless other beneficiaries - including librarians, journalists, advocacy groups, and independent scientists - would not be able to make use of mining software to understand large data sets, putting Europe in a competitive disadvantage in the world.

In the weeks before the vote, Mozilla is urging EU citizens to phone their lawmakers and demand better reform. A website and call tool - changecopyright.org - makes it simple to contact Members of European Parliament (MEPs).