Google granted 5-year exemption to Canada’s Online News Act – National
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission granted Google a five-year exemption from Online Information Actordering him to release the $100 million he now owes to Canadian media within 60 days.
Google agreed last year to pay $100 million a year to Canadian news publishers.indexed to inflation, in order to be exempt from the law, which requires technology companies to enter into agreements with press publishers to pay for content republished on their platforms.
The Canadian Journalism Collective was tasked with distributing the money to the media.
The CRTC said in its ruling Monday that it believed Google met the requirements for an exemption, but added stipulations, including that it must allow more news companies to join the collective.
“After reviewing the public record, the CRTC grants Google a five-year exemption from the law. Google must pay $100 million to the (Canadian Journalism Collective) within 60 days of this decision. The CJC will then distribute the funds equitably to eligible Canadian news organizations,” the CRTC said in a press release.
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News Media Canada, which represents hundreds of publishers, said in a statement that it was “very pleased” with the CRTC’s decision.
“The Online News Act is a leading regulatory framework that aims to address the significant imbalance in bargaining power between platforms and publishers over content licensing,” said the group’s chairman and CEO, Paul Deegan.
He said it was now time for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to follow Google’s lead.
“We are now calling on Meta, whose platforms are more valuable with real news produced by real journalists, to follow Google’s socially responsible lead,” Deegan said.
The Canadian Journalism Collective submitted plans for its governance structure to the CRTC in July.
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