Lyor Cohen is sounding the alarm about Article 13 of the European Union's recently passed Copyright Directive. YouTube's global head of music said in his monthly newsletter that the much-debated restrictions will have "severe unintended consequences" for content creators, particularly musicians and others involved in the music industry.
Article 13 requires companies like YouTube to create automatic content recognition systems that will pull anything the system feels is a violation of copyright.
While Cohen agreed with the spirit of the law, he says that the way it's being implemented is going to negatively impact creators, tying them up in a system that might flag perfectly acceptable uploads.
"We need effective ways for copyright holders to protect their content. But we believe that the current proposal will create severe unintended consequences for the whole industry," Cohen said.
"The music industry should really pay attention to these unintended consequences -- the system that largely contributes to their success is at risk of major change in the European Union," he added.
Cohen's take was less severe than his cohort Susan Wojcicki. The YouTube CEO warned that Article 13 could effectively kill the remixes, memes and reactions that are a huge part of YouTube and internet culture as a whole.
"This legislation poses a threat to both your livelihood and your ability to share your voice with the world," she wrote in a letter to YouTube creators. "The burden of copyright proof will be too high for most independent creators to instantly demonstrate."
Cohen called for the people effected by the new provisions to work on creating an alternative to the proposal that would help protect copyright laws without unintentional side effects, writing, "I encourage everyone making a living in this industry to learn more about it and join us to propose a better version together."
