European Parliament has voted in favour of Article 13 which would place heavy restrictions on content sharing.
These changes have proved controversial - with critics claiming they will have a detrimental impact on content creators.
According to the European Parliament, the new copyright rules - now renamed Article 17 - were adopted by 348 votes in favour, 274 MEPs were against the changes and there were 36 abstentions.
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The directive aims to ensure that the rights and obligations of copyright law also apply to the internet. YouTube, Facebook and Google News are some of the internet household names that will be most directly affected by this legislation.
The directive also strives to ensure that the internet remains a space for freedom of expression.
Some people who have criticised the decision, took to Twitter, with one writing: "Thank you for ignoring millions and millions of EU citizens revolting against this ridiculous concept.
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"Letting people who haven't even got a clue about the internet nor any knowledge about it vote. The young people of today are a small part of our population but 100% of our future."
Another added: "Thanks for ignoring so many voices! Thanks for destroying so many faith in democracy, again...."
But someone in favour of the changes said: "Oh no, kids won't be able to steal other people's work anymore. Cry me a river."
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Another person in agreement commented: "Many MEP believe that what we have now in the net is nothing fair or free, money and valuable info flows but not to the people , we're about to see in the next few years how big money will react & how citizens rights are affected."
Provisions have been designed to ensure that the internet remains a place for freedom of expression. Sharing snippets of news articles can continue how it was before but the 'snippet' must be 'very short'.
Uploading protected works for quotation, criticism, review, caricature, parody or pastiche has been protected even more than it was before, ensuring that memes and Gifs will continue to be available and shareable on online platforms.
