Thursday, August 25, 2022

Bill to force tech giants to pay for news content is moving

"Legislation to bring the big tech platform companies to the table and negotiate compensation for news stories they use has been redrafted and will be considered by Congress over the next six weeks," Rick Edmonds reports for Poynter. "The latest version of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act was released Monday evening. The 35-page bill is headed for committee markup revisions in early September and then likely will be voted on by both the House and Senate. If successful, the legislation could infuse billions of dollars from Google and Facebook to pay journalists over its eight-year duration. A similar law in Australia – population 27 million – has so far brought news organizations there $140 million in new revenue."

The measure would temporarily waive anti-trust laws to let news publishers collectively negotiate with online platforms in hopes of getting better compensation for using their content. If publishers and platforms can't agree on a fair price, it goes to binding arbitration. 

Large nationwide news organizations aren't eligible, but smaller nationwide publishers and any local news outlet can participate, including those owned by chains. If the bill passes, Google and Facebook will likely file lawsuits to try to invalidate it. Edmonds has more on the ins and outs of the bill, as well as its likely prospects. Read more here.

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