Google Agrees to Pay News Fees to Over 300 Media Outlets in the EU

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The world's largest search engine, Google, has agreed to pay news usage fees to over 300 media outlets within the European Union (EU), according to major foreign media reports on the 11th (local time).

According to the reports, Google has signed contracts to pay news usage fees with more than 300 media outlets in six EU member countries: Germany, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Hungary, and Austria. Additionally, Google plans to introduce a system to facilitate news usage fee payments for other media outlets as well.

Among the contracted media outlets, two-thirds are German media, including weekly magazines Der Spiegel and Die Zeit, and the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Foreign media reported that the exact amount Google will pay these outlets in news usage fees has not been disclosed.

Google's move to sign news usage fee contracts follows the EU's revision of copyright regulations in 2019. The new copyright rules stipulate that if works by musicians, performers, authors, news publishers, and journalists are consumed on online platforms such as Google, the platform must pay fees to the copyright holders.

Media outlets worldwide have strongly demanded copyright regulations, and not only the EU but other countries have also established rules mandating the payment of news usage fees. Australia enacted such regulations last year, and Canada recently followed suit.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.