By Alex Stuart
Berghain no longer Germany's best club?
Here’s some news bound to make any Berghain-entry-rejectee smug: Cologne’s own ‘Bootshaus’ has superseded Berghain as Germany’s best club. This is testament to the city’s thriving cultures and positive, tolerant attitude; the city is German’s self-proclaimed gay capital. In contrast to Berghain’s notoriously exclusive door policy, Bootshaus’ organizers say, ‘those who are nice, positive and friendly are cordially invited’. Lovely.
Article 13 sparks protests across Germany
After the European Parliament passed a new copyright law on Tuesday, debate raged all over Europe as to whether it will mean more revenue for artists in royalties, or in fact increased censorship and new barriers for smaller artists. The law means content uploaded to platforms such as YouTube must have a copyright license, and the platforms must pay the artists royalties. While record companies are delighted, understandably the YouTube CEO is not so pleased, neither are 3,500 people who marched in protest in Berlin as part of the #saveyourinternet movement. They fear that the subsequent new upload filters on platforms that automatically remove and censor content will stifle freedom of speech and expression. Furthermore, while smaller and independent artists are supposed to receive more royalties under the new law, it is uncertain whether this will outweigh the benefit of a free and open internet for artists to promote themselves and gain supporters. However, Deutsche Welle highlights the misinformation pervading the debate. Have you heard that rumour that memes and gifs are to be banned? Fake news, thankfully.Â