The law could force companies such as Google and YouTube to police copyrighted material and allow publishers and artists to charge for their content.

Artists have campaigned to bring in laws that would require YouTube and Facebook to stop users illegally uploading their music.

They say that existing outdated copyright laws mean publishers, artists and musicians are not compensated fairly for their work and are being undercut by internet giants.

However, opponents of the copyright laws claim that bringing in new regulation would create an atmosphere of self-censorship on the biggest internet streaming sites, which could mean that creators' videos could never be published.

The internet's founder, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is among the high profile figures who have opposed the law, arguing it cause the web to become a platform for "automated surveillance and control."

One controversial proposal is the introduction of a so-called "link tax" to undercut the revenues of tech giants like YouTube, its parent company Google, and Facebook. If voted through, sites would have to pay to show copyrighted content online, including in hyperlinks and snippets of text.

Another controversial proposal, known as Article 13, places the responsibility on tech giants to enforce copyright using automated content-recognition systems.

In July, EU politicians voted against an overhaul of the internet directive after a tense row over internet giant's potential self-censorship as a result of these rules, curtailing freedom of expression online.