“If it goes through as is, it will be very beneficial for Australian media,” Barnet said of the code. “Google will be lobbying very hard in the background … to confine it to News Showcase,” she added.
Seven West Media said it will release more details about the deal after those details are finalized within 30 days.
Before the announcement, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg had said Google and Facebook were close to striking commercial deals, “which could be of real benefit to the domestic media landscape and see journalists rewarded financially for generating original content, as it should be.”
Google and Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Frydenberg’s discussions with their leaders.
Google has ramped up its campaign against the proposed law, telling the Senate committee that scrutinized it that the platform would likely make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the code were introduced.
Facebook has threatened to block Australians from sharing news if the platform were forced to pay for news.
While the digital giants can afford the likely cost of paying for the Australian news they link to, they are concerned about the international precedent that Australia could set.
Google has faced pressure from authorities elsewhere to pay for news. Last month, it signed a deal with a group of French publishers, paving the way for the company to make digital copyright payments. Under the agreement, Google will negotiate individual licensing deals with newspapers, with payments based on factors such as the amount published daily and monthly internet site traffic.
Credit: Source link
