Google Will Pay 300 News Publishers In The European Union, In Indonesia When?

Google has signed deals to pay more than 300 news publishers in Europe. (photo: doc. pixabay )

JAKARTA - Alphabet's parent company, Google has signed a deal to pay more than 300 news publishers in Germany, France, and four other European Union countries for their news. They will even launch a tool to make it easier for other people to register as well.

As reported by Reuters, the move, which will be publicly announced next Wednesday, follows the adoption of a landmark EU copyright rule three years ago that required Google and other online platforms to pay musicians, performers, writers, news publishers and journalists for using their work.

News publishers, the fiercest critics of Google, have long urged governments to ensure online platforms pay fair remuneration for their content. The Australian government last year even ordered Google to be obliged to pay news publishers. Meanwhile, Canada also began introducing a similar law last month.

"So far, we have agreements covering more than 300 national, local, and specialist news publications in Germany, Hungary, France, Austria, the Netherlands, and Ireland, with more discussions ongoing," said Sulina Connal, Google's director of news and publishing partnerships, as quoted by Reuters. But Connal did not say how much publishers are paid under the new rules.

Two-thirds of the group are German publishers including Der Spiegel, Die Zeit and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"We are now announcing the launch of a new tool for bidding to thousands of other news publishers, starting in Germany and Hungary, and rolling out to other EU countries over the coming months," Connal said in a blogpost.

This tool offers publishers an extended news preview agreement that allows Google to display snippets and thumbnails for a license fee.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, the government does not seem to have thought about enacting laws that force Google or other internet companies to pay for news content from media in the country.

However, it is worth waiting for, when the rules for paying for this news license will be implemented so that the national media can also benefit from the news that they produce and use by Google.