GOOGLE AND FB FORCED TO PAY CREATORS
BRUSSELS: Online platforms will be required to compensate publishers and creators for the content that appears on their websites, under new European Union (EU) copyright rules that could shrink access to online media in Europe.
The new rules mean music producers and publishers could come gunning for more money from Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. to compensate for the display of their songs, video and news articles.
If artists and music producers refuse to grant platforms licenses, tech firms will be required to remove or block uploads. And if platforms don’t negotiate licenses with publishers, or if publishers don’t waive their rights, web firms won’t be able to display longer fragments of news articles under headlines.
The rules ‘will enable creators to be remunerated fairly by large online platforms that today are siphoning the value of the creative sector while failing to compensate creators,” said Veronique Desbrosses, director general of Gesac, a European umbrella association of authors and composers. The legislation, proposed by the European Commission in 2016 and agreed to with the European Parliament and member states on Wednesday, is designed to help artists, musicians, publishers and other creators get fair payment for use of their content online. But the copyright rules provoked years of lobbying on all sides, with free-speech activists saying they could result in censorship online.
In response to the copyright agreement, Google spokesman Damien Roemer said in a statement: ‘We’ll be studying the final text of the EU copyright directive and it will take some time to determine next steps.’ He added that ‘the details will matter, so we welcome the chance to continue conversations across Europe.’
The search giant said recently it may pull its Google news service from Europe in response to the law, particularly if publishers aren’t allowed to waive their rights. It said it would take the decision reluctantly and only after analysing the final text. Google has already deactivated the product in Spain.
Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, which represents Facebook and Google, said in a statement the rules are a ‘lost opportunity to achieve a balanced and futureproof EU copyright reform,’ adding it could ‘harm online innovation, scaleups, and restrict online freedoms in Europe.’ As part of the new rules, EU is requiring tech firms to negotiate licenses for songs or video clips before publishing user uploads of content that incorporates them.