Spain Moves To Adopt EU Copyright Laws

Spain has adopted a European Union copyright directive that allows third-party online news platforms to negotiate directly with content providers, Reuters reported. This will allow Alphabet’s Google News to return to the country.

In September of 2014, Google News, which links to third-party content, closed in response to legislation that forced it to pay a collective licensing fee to republish headlines or snippets of news.

The EU legislation, which must be adopted by all member states, requires platforms such as Google, Facebook and others to share revenue with publishers but it also removes the collective fee and allows them to reach individual or group agreements with publishers.

Google said it wanted to bring its news services back to Spain but would closely analyse the law before making any firm commitment.

“Based on the initial information… conditions look promising for the potential launch of Google News in Spain. However, we will need to see the final law before making any formal announcements,” a spokesperson said in an email.

Spain’s Culture Ministry said the new law brought national copyright legislation into step with the digital environment and would help artists and creators to receive fair remuneration for their work.

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