• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, October 13, 2023

Google is working with publishers in both Canada and Europe to set compensation for those whose content it uses. 

The search giant has agreed to pay 3.2 million euros, or U.S. $3.38 million, for the privilege of publishing news content from German media, Reuters reports.

The payment will be to Corint Media, an organization that represents Sat.1, ProSieben, RTL, Axel Springer and CNBC and other media.

And in Canada, publishers welcomed the submission of of eight proposed changes to the Online News Act. 

“Google’s submission is a welcome, clear, constructive, good faith articulation of legitimate concerns,” says News Media Canada, a lobbying group. “We are in agreement with many of the issues they have raised.”

The group adds, ““We are ready to sit down and work through the details of these issues before the regulations are finalized,” according to Market Watch.

In Germany, Google has licensing agreements with such publications as Spiegel, Zeit and FAZ for the use of headlines, excerpts and thumbnails, Reuters continues. 

"The payments to Corint Media are in line with what we have already agreed with 470 regional and national publications in Germany," Google says, the report continues.

However, Corint says it hopes that an arbitration decision by the DPMA, the German patent office, will lead to a "significant increase of the remuneration to be paid by Google.”

Canada’s Online News Act, requiring payment to publishers, is implemented in December. Meta is already blocking news. 

Cynics point out that anyone who clicks through to a news link on Google is likely to run into a paywall anyway.