Proposed in 2016 to update copyright law for the age of Facebook and Google, the directive has unleashed a ferocious lobbying war.
Fought with hashtags, mailshots, open letters and celebrity endorsements, the battle over the European Union’s draft directive on copyright heads for a showdown this week.
Critics claim the proposal will destroy the internet, spelling the end of sharing holiday snaps or memes on Facebook.
Lawmakers have been bombarded with millions of emails and thousands of calls, many based on standard scripts written by lobbyists.