The EU drafted a copyright directive before Australia took action on Facebook. Photograph: Dado RuviÄ/Reuters John Naughtonâs piece was flawless apart from a couple of omissions (âAustralia shows the way. Itâs the job of governments not big tech to run democraciesâ, Comment). If we want similar rules to Australia in the UK, it is worth mentioning that the UK government was one of the main defenders of the EU 2019 copyright directive, which recognises the need to compensate publishers for their contribution in producing press publications so crucial to the journalistic diversity we need in a democracy. The drafting of the EU directive came long before Australiaâs action. Interestingly, Google is believed to have spent around £30m opposing the directive. It is to be hoped that the UK government will translate the provisions into law very soon. It helped write them, after all.