Canadian Publishers Welcome Google Agreement to Pay French News Organizations for Content

TORONTO, ON —/COMMUNITYWIRE/— 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 and CEO 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.

https://www.levellingthedigitalplayingfield.ca/

About News Media Canada

News Media Canada is the voice of the print and digital news media industry in Canada and represents hundreds of trusted titles in every province and territory. News Media Canada is an advocate in public policy for daily and community media outlets and contributes to the ongoing evolution of the news media industry by raising awareness and promoting the benefits of news media across all platforms. For more information, visit our website at www.newsmediacanada.ca or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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For more information, please contact:

John Hinds, President and CEO
News Media Canada
jhinds@newsmediacanada.ca