A group of 165 European directors and screenwriters has signed a declaration at the Venice Film Festival calling on the European Parliament to pass new legislation that will overhaul copyright law for the online world. Veteran filmmakers, including Mike Leigh, Paolo Sorrentino, Agnieszka Holland, Pawel Pawlikowski and Margarethe von Trotta, and newcomers such as Laszlo Nemes and Benedikt Erlingsson signed the so-called Venice Declaration, calling on the European Parliament to adopt the legislation that "Puts authors at the heart of copyright and of the European cultural and creative industries, including online." The petition refers to the draft "Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market," a proposed, and controversial, law that would change how copyright holders, including creatives in the film and TV industries, are compensated for distribution of their work online. The legislation includes provisions forcing big online companies, such as Google or Facebook, to share revenue with copyright holders and to better police their sites. The creative industries had lobbied hard for the Copyright Directive. Several big media companies, together with bold-face names in the film, TV and music industries, have come out in support of the new law. A revised version of the copyright directive goes before the European Parliament on Sept. 12. Read more