Canadian publishers welcome Google Agreement to pay news organizations for content

By Trevor Busch on January 28, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDtbusch@lethbridgeherald.com

An agreement signed by Google with French news organizations to pay publishers for their content is being welcomed as an important precedent by Canadian news publishers.
News Media Canada President John Hinds says Canadian publishers have been urging the Canadian government to force Google and Facebook to negotiate fair compensation for their use of news content, and the French agreement shows it can be done.
“This is the first time the platforms have agreed to compensate publishers for the use of their content. This establishes a precedent and supports our efforts for legislation in Canada to require the platforms to compensate publishers for the use of their content.”
News publishers in several countries, including Canada, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union are all urging their respective governments to take legislative action so they can be fairly compensated for the use of their content. News Media Canada has issued a report, “Levelling the Digital Playing Field,” urging the Canadian government to act, using Australian legislation as the model.
It would allow Canadian publishers to band together and negotiate collectively with Google and Facebook and would levy penalties on the web giants if they don’t comply.
News Media Canada is calling on the federal government to take note of the French agreement and take legislative action to ensure Canadian news publishers are fairly compensated for the use of their content.
“We urge the Canadian government to move quickly on their Throne Speech commitment to bring in legislation,” says Hinds.

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