Danish media takes collective approach to US tech over news

Denmark’s media industry is launching a collective bargaining approach to force Facebook and Google to pay for news, with some 30 newspapers, broadcasters and internet start-ups joining forces to strike deals on the use of copyrighted content.

The details

• The media outlets believe their pioneering copyright-collective organisation will give them greater negotiating muscle in reaching agreements with the tech giants.
• It is hoped the strategy could form a blueprint for other countries, both in Europe and further afield.
• The initiative is based on the EU’s copyright directive, which allows news publishers to claim payments for the use of their content online. Google and Facebook have reportedly set aside hundreds of millions of dollars a year to pay news providers for the use of their content.

Key quote

“What you see in most countries is that Google or Facebook negotiate particular deals with one or a few dominant media companies and they set the standard and the market has to follow. We would rather have a collective bargaining power, which gives us some size” – Anders Krab-Johansen, chief executive of newspaper group Berlingske Media. 

Sourced from Financial Times