Google News, which links to third party
content, closed in Spain in late 2014 in response to legislation which meant it
had to pay a mandatory collective licensing fee to re-publish headlines or
snippets of news.
Now the thorny issue is back on the table
as Spain prepares to implement the 2019 European Union copyright directive by
June. While that requires Google, Facebook and others to share revenue with
publishers, the government could allow the companies to negotiate individual
deals with content providers.
Spain's Culture Ministry said the
government was working on a draft bill, but declined to give further details.
A spokeswoman for Google Spain said
publishers should be free to choose their own business model. "The
copyright law should not make it mandatory to put a paid licence in
place," she said.
Facebook faced a backlash from publishers
and politicians last week after blocking people in Australia from accessing and
sharing news, escalating a dispute with the government there over a planned law
that would require it to share revenue with content providers.
The EU rules, however, do not force online
platforms to pay for links posted to their news site by publishers, the main
grievance for Facebook in Australia, so their implementation could pave the way
for a series of deals.
"Google is in talks with Spanish
editors about the possibility of taking part in the Google News Showcase
programme," a source familiar with the process said, referring to the
proposed new name for the service.
Two other sources said some preliminary
agreements had already been reached, pending details of the new legislation.
Google recently agreed to pay $76 million
to a group of 121 French news publishers, infuriating many other local outlets,
which deemed the deal unfair and opaque.
Some Spanish publishers represented by the
AMI media association, such as El Mundo owner Unidad Editorial, are in favour
of maintaining the current system which gives publishers the right to levy
licensing fees through a collective management entity.
AMI general director Ramon Alonso said the
model allows for a transparent and fair negotiation with Google and others, and
prevents the exclusion of some publishers.
But others, including CLABE that represents
162 associates with around a thousand news outlets including leading digital
brands such as El Espanol or Eldiario.es, say they can reach a better deal on
their own and should be free to choose.
"We are trying to ensure that these
agreements benefit as many companies in the sector as possible," said Juan
Zafra, CLABE secretary general.
The Independent Regional Press Association
(AIE), a founding member of AMI, said in a letter published in all of its
outlets on Monday that it had been "seriously harmed" by the existing
model, which brought no income from content and made Spain "a global
digital exception".
Meanwhile, Microsoft and European media
groups on Monday urged EU regulators to require online platforms to seek
arbitration in disagreements over how to share revenues with news publishers.
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