European press agencies push for licensing fees for their content from Google, Facebook
It remains to be seen whether European legislators and regulators will pick up the cause, but there's a possibility that they will.
Topic: Ancillary copyright for press publishers
German Publisher Group Sues Google Again Under Draconian Copyright Law
A group of German publishers has filed a civil complaint against Google. The group, constituted as VG Media, claims to be enforcing Germany’s “Ancillary Copyright” Law, passed in 2013. This is the latest episode in an ongoing dispute between German news publishers and Google. Essentially, the publishers are suing to get Google to pay them […]
Spanish Newspapers Want Government To Force Google To Keep News Open In Spain
A new effort by the Spanish Newspaper Publishers Association (AEDE) to prevent Google from shutting down its News site in Spain is an amazing example of industry chutzpah or hubris. The action shows so much chutzpah in fact that it enters the realm of unintentional political satire. First the background if you don’t already know […]
German Legislator Calling For Google Breakup Has Serious Conflict Of Interest
The German member of the European Parliament behind the call to break up Google, Andreas Schwab, has a conflict of interest. According to the NY Times, he has ties to and earns money from a German law firm that represents anti-Google publishing interests in Germany. German publishers lobbied for the passage of the “ancillary copyright” law […]
German Publisher Axel Springer: Loss Of Snippets Caused 80 Percent Traffic Drop
Axel Springer, Germany’s largest publisher and the owner of Europe’s largest newspaper, has said it wants back in to snippets. According to Reuters, the German publishing giant revealed that traffic to its four largest online properties from Google search results “had fallen by 40 percent” and referrals from Google News had dropped “by 80 percent in the past […]
Following Germany’s Lead Spain Passes Misguided “Google Tax” Anti-Piracy Law
Given the saga of Germany’s ill-conceived and poorly implemented “ancillary copyright law” one would have thought that another European government wouldn’t immediately duplicate the mistake. But that’s exactly what’s happened in Spain. Spanish newspaper publishers, hoping to turn Google into a source of compulsory licensing revenue, worked to pass a new law that imposes strict fines for the […]
German Publishers To Google: We Want Our Snippets Back
German publishers want their snippets and thumbnails back. A consortium of roughly 200 companies, together known as “VG Media,” have said that the loss of traffic from the disappearance of these elements could cause some of their members “to go bankrupt.” The publishers have been trying for more than a year to collect money from Google for their […]
To Avoid Liability, Google Limits German News Content To Headlines
German news and magazine publishers are determined, one way or another, to get Google to pay them for their content. They’re not upset about the content appearing in Google News or search. They want it to appear — they just want Google to pay for it. Google doesn’t want to pay. And there’s no U.S.-style “fair use” copyright exception in […]
Google Wins Round Against German Publishers, Who Vow To Fight On
The convoluted saga of Google News in Germany took another turn on Friday when regulators declined to pursue an antitrust claim against the company brought by “VG Media,” a consortium of German publishers including publishing giant Axel Springer. Reuters covered the decision but didn’t do a very good job of explaining it or providing context. […]
Spanish Law To Force Google To Index And Pay For Local News
There’s a basic feeling among traditional news publishers throughout Europe, and among some in the U.S., that Google has benefited enormously from their content but failed to offer anything in return. Furthermore, many publishers see Google as directly responsible for the decline of their traditional advertising and circulation revenues. The counter-argument that Google sends traffic […]
Rather Than Opt-Out Of Google, German News Publishers Demand 11% Cut Of Revenue
German news publishers are picking up where the Belgians left off, a now not-so-proud tradition of suing Google for being included in its listings rather than choosing to opt-out. This time, the publishers want an 11% cut of Google’s revenue related to them being listed. The news comes from Jeff Jarvis, who writes that a […]
German Publishers Opt-In To Google News — For The Moment
Following the enactment of a controversial copyright law in Germany, Google said that it would require publishers to formally “opt-in” to Google News or be excluded from results. Accordingly major German publishers have decided to do so — for now. The new law, which went into effect today and gives publishers almost total control over […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 16, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Ads Gets New Filter Options, Search Query Reports, Appealable Ad Visiblity & Keyword Competition Values Bing Ads announced a number of updates last month, including new campaign filter options, improved […]
German “Ancillary Copyright” Law To Go Into Effect, Imposes Limits On Search Results
According to a report from IDG News, a “toned down” version of an earlier, more restrictive “ancillary copyright” law has been published in Germany and will go into effect in August. The ”ancillary copyright” rule was proposed in August of 2012. In its initial form it would have required Google and others that indexed or […]
Google Avoids Link Tax But Vague “Ancillary Copyright” Law Sets Up Future Legal Battle
In August of last year, a number of German lawmakers were pressing proposed “ancillary copyright” legislation that would have required Google and others that indexed or aggregated news to pay for links or excerpts from those news items. The proposed law was championed by German magazine and newspaper publishers who, like their counterparts in the US, are seeing […]
New German Law Will Allow Free “Snippets” By Search Engines, But Uncertainty Remains
The good news for search engines like Google is a proposed German copyright law won’t require them to pay to show short summaries of news content. However, uncertainty remains about how much might be “too much” and require a license. The new law is expected to pass on Friday. NOTE: See our follow-up story from […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 31, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Will Facebook’s Graph Search Be Big For Bing Advertisers? Following Facebook’s announcement of Graph Search a few weeks back, there’s been no shortage of analysis and speculation on what the move […]
German Parliament Hears Experts On Proposed Law To Limit Search Engines From Using News Content
Yesterday, the Judiciary Committee of the German Bundestag — Germany’s national parliament — held an expert hearing on a proposed “Leistungsschutzrecht” law for news publishers. The law, known as “ancillary copyright” in English, would require search engines and others — perhaps even Facebook, Twitter and individual bloggers — to pay news publishers if they link […]
Google Wins Street View Reprieve In Germany But Confronts New Pro-Newspaper Copyright Restrictions
Google dodged a bullet in Germany this week as prosecutors in Hamburg decided, after a lengthy investigation, not to pursue criminal charges against the company over Street View WiFi data collection. Essentially prosecutors found that Google lacked the requisite “criminal intent” to justify prosecution. Google faces another, arguably more daunting legal challenge in Germany however. […]
Germany Wants To Force Google To Pay License Fees For Links
A report from GigaOm this morning discusses a ridiculous proposed “ancillary copyright” law in Germany that would compel Google — and others online — to pay to link to and excerpt any content from German publishers’ websites (e.g., newspapers). The law currently is in draft form and being debated by stakeholders and legislators. The “fair […]