CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Seven West Media has become the largest Australian media company to sign a deal with Google to pay for journalism in a partnership announced Monday before the nation’s parliament considers binding bills digital giants to pay for news.
Google and the public television, print and publicly listed online publishing company jointly announced that they have agreed on a “long-term partnership” after weekend talks with Australian government ministers with media directors, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google.
Kerry Stokes, president of Seven West Media, which owns 21 publications, thanked the Australian government and competition regulator for their proposal.
“Their outstanding leadership in implementing the proposed bargaining code for the news media has led to the completion of negotiations that lead to fair pay and ensure our digital future,” Stokes said in a statement.
“Negotiations with Google recognize the value of quality and original journalism throughout the country, and especially in regional areas,” Stokes added.
The agreement was concluded under Google’s own model, News Showcase. Google has reached transactions with more than 450 publications globally since the launch of the News Showcase in October.
Google announced two weeks ago that it has started paying for seven much smaller Australian websites under the News Showcase.
Google Regional Director Mel Silva said: “We are proud to support original, reliable and quality journalism and are delighted to welcome Seven West Media today as the Australian publisher’s major partner to join the Google News Showcase.”
The partnership has been a substantial investment for Google in journalism not only in subway areas but also in smaller communities, she added.
Neither Google nor Seven West Media mentioned how much the business was worth. The media company Rival Nine Entertainment reported, citing unnamed industry sources, that it is worth more than A $ 30 million ($ 23 million) a year.
Prior to the announcement, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg had said that Google and Facebook are close to striking trade agreements, “which could be of real benefit to the domestic media landscape and could see journalists financially rewarded for generating original content, as they should.” .
Google and Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Frydenberg’s talks with their leaders.
Google has stepped up its campaign against the proposed law, telling the Senate committee that examined it that the platform would make its search engine unavailable in Australia if it entered the code.
Facebook has threatened to block Australians from sharing news if the platform is forced to pay for the news.
While the digital giants can afford the likely cost of paying for the Australian news they link to, they are worried about the international precedent Australia could set.
Google has come under pressure from authorities elsewhere to pay for the news. Last month, he signed an agreement with a group of French publishers, paving the way for the company to make digital copyright payments. Under the agreement, Google will negotiate individual licensing agreements with newspapers, with payments based on factors such as the amount published daily and monthly traffic to the website.
In Australia, platforms can make payment transactions with media companies before the code is enacted.
The law would create an arbitration committee to make binding payment decisions in cases where a news platform and firm cannot agree on the price for the news.
The panel would usually accept either the best offer from the platform or the publisher, and will rarely set a price between them.
This should discourage both platforms and news companies from making unrealistic requests.