The Australian government is aiming to pass a bill that effectively requires payment of royalties when American IT giants such as Google display articles in the news media, and IT companies are opposed.
The Australian government submitted a new bill to Parliament last December because of the sharp decline in advertising revenue in the newspaper and publishing industry due to the spread of the Internet and the increasing number of media outlets forced out of business.
The bill states that IT giants such as Google and Facebook will be obliged to negotiate if the news media demands payment of article usage fees, and if they cannot agree, the government will ultimately choose. However, the arbitrator will decide, effectively obliging the payment of royalties.
A hearing was held in the Senate on the 1st, and representatives of the news media complained that the news media was at a crossroads due to a decrease in advertising revenue.
While major IT companies are making huge advertising revenue from services on the Internet, news media in each country are increasingly demanding payment of usage fees, and Google started a new news distribution service in October last year, articles etc. We will pay $ 1 billion for the usage fee for 3 years.
However, Google strongly opposed the Australian government's policy of making payment of royalties virtually obligatory, saying, "If the bill is passed as it is, we will have to stop the search service in Australia." I am.