Canadian law to make big tech share revenue with publishers
A fair sharing of revenues between publishers and big tech companies like Google, Facebook is stated as one of the goals in Canadian government’s proposed Online News Act. If big tech companies and publishers cannot agree, the proposed law includes a mandatory arbitration similar to the one recently introduced in Australia despite loud protests from Google and Facebook.
”Digital platforms have come to play an integral role in Canada’s news ecosystem, shifting the way Canadians access news content that is vital to democracy. They can play an important role in supporting the production of trusted news and information”, the Canadian government says in a statement.
The government says the Online News Act will:
- ensure fair revenue sharing between digital platforms and news outlets
- provide for collective bargaining by news outlets
- promote voluntary commercial agreements between digital platforms and news outlets, with minimal government intervention
- as a last resort, establish a mandatory arbitration framework where digital platforms and news outlets cannot reach commercial agreements
- define the role and tools of the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as the regulator
Once implemented, the the government expects the Act to result in:
- a flexible regulatory framework that facilitates fair business relationships between digital platforms and news outlets
- sustainability in the Canadian news ecosystem, including the sustainability of local news
- the maintenance of press independence and market innovation online
- diversity within the Canadian news landscape
News content is not limited to a specific format, and could include print, audio, or audiovisual news.
When the Australian government proposed its legislation forcing big tech companies to negotiate with publishers about compensation for using their journalistic content, Google and Facebook protested and were especially upset about that an independent committee would decide about the price to be paid if the parties could not agree.
After some compromises a slightly more modest legislation was introduced and has in global discussions been seen as a benchmark.
The approved Australian “Media Code” exempt tech firms that make a “significant contribution” to the news industry. The definition of such “significant contributions” was not defined but led to tech firms agreeing with publishers about payments in direct negotiations to avoid a neutral committee deciding about the price to be paid.
France was the first EU country to implement the Union´s new copyright directive instructing tech platforms to negotiate payments with publishers. After lengthy discussions, both Google and Facebook have signed agreements to pay publishers for using their content. Negotiations are continuing in other EU countries.
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